Impact on emotional health

The remnants of an abusive childhood can impact an adult's ability to function in school, work, relationships, and life in general. There is seemingly no boundary to the negative repercussions of having suffered an abusive childhood. In my own work with adult survivors of abuse, I've seen examples of grown-up victims who:

• Lack motivation because they were conditioned to give up trying
• Are so afraid of poverty and loss that they constantly overwork themselves to avoid the looming imaginary threat of homelessness
• Subconsciously hold onto extra body weight out of a fear of not having enough to eat or to divert attention from the opposite sex
• Were never properly taught about personal hygiene
• Constantly re-enact their childhood relationships by remaining in abusive situations
• Don't feel close to anyone
• Have extreme difficulty communicating with others

Sometimes, abuse and neglect of children can become a terrible cycle in which adults abused as children can become abusive with their own children. The negative impacts of child abuse can so grossly alter a person's physical, psychological and behavioral growth that it may perpetuate the cycle of child abuse and keep the foster care system "in business."