Increasingly, international attention is being drawn to the severity and increase of children being abused or neglected. According to reports, about 903,000 children were abused or neglected in 2001 alone. Physical injuries that children suffer may or may not be visible as a consequence of child abuse, but its impact can be felt in different spheres of a child’s life, such as physical, behavioral and psychological.
Considering that the child abuse effects are felt in such a comprehensive way, it’s interesting to note that the physical consequences of child abuse such as a damaged developing brain can have psychological consequences, such as emotional problems, etc.
If an abused child suffers psychological problems, they show up as high-risk behaviors, such as anxiety or depression. So, if a depressed or an anxiety-ridden individual was abused in childhood, he may well take to smoking, or doing alcohol or drugs. Any or all of these habits can often lead to medical problems, such as obesity, cancer or a sexually transmitted disease. Such are the widespread child abuse effects that an innocent individual suffers not just once but for the rest of his life.
Physical consequences of child abuse
The moment a child is subjected to physical abuse, the marks and scars are there for all to see. These could be broken bones, cuts, hemorrhage, bruises, burns and physical disabilities. Usually, the effects of child abuse in such cases are temporary, though the child may go through immense pain and discomfort and may require hospitalization, depending on the severity of the damage caused to him. However, in the long term, the impact could be more severe and damaging.
These include but are not limited to:
Shaking a baby
One of the child abuse effects is a condition called Shaken baby syndrome. It refers to a parent shaking his newborn baby so much that it leads to the baby vomiting, experiencing respiratory problems, seizures and death. In the long-term, it could lead to paralysis, mental retardation, blindness, cerebral palsy or learning disabilities.
Bruises
When children are abused to the extent of being bruised or their skin cut, it leads to a change in their behavior. He might immediately be withdrawn and have an innate fear of people. He may not be able to concentrate at school and end up with poor grades. Over time, he may become anti-social and have a warped idea of life.
Damage to the brain
Child abuse can cause damage to the growing brain resulting in the child being affected physically, mentally and emotionally. If the abuse is severe, it could result in sleep disturbances, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, learning difficulties and poor memory.
Psychological consequences of child abuse
The psychological impact of child abuse, he immediately feels frightened of his immediate world, he is isolated and distrustful of others. In time, this translates into him suffering low confidence levels, low self-esteem, problems with relationships and depression. As a result, he suffers in the following ways:
Poor psychological and emotional health
Physically or mentally abused children often suffer with depression, several attempts at suicide, anxiety, eating disorders. Their emotional health also suffers because they experience these child abuse effects: panic disorder, withdrawal, poor development of basic skills, inability to hold down a job, self-destructive behavior, alcohol or drug abuse, inability to form relationships, etc.
Cognitive problems
Children abused in childhood usually suffer impaired language development and as a result are not good students.
Lack of social skills
Unfortunately, such children cannot form strong relational bonds. Even as adults, they continue to make mistakes in their personal relationships and have difficulties adjusting with their peers at work.
Behavioral consequences of child abuse
Though the child abuse effects don’t always include behavioral problems, when they do, they include the following:
Delinquency and drugs
The child abuse effects manifest in behavioral consequences such as teenagers experiencing delinquency and not high achievers at school. Other problems they experience are teen pregnancy, drug abuse and mental health issues. Criminal behavior is also common.
The effects of childhood abuse have a lingering effect as they filter into such children’s adult years. The effects of childhood abuse can continue to be a problem during adulthood. Sexually promiscuousness leads to teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases just as alcohol and drug abuse can kill individuals. The time to take a serious look at this societal ill is here. We must seize the moment.
