Mental Scars in Abused Children

Mental Scars in Abused Children
Adolescents who experienced abuse or neglect as children have fewer brain cells than teens who did not undergo childhood maltreatment, a new Yale study finds.
Children are more likely to resort to positive behavior if they acquire support from you when they are following your rules.	A study conducted by scientists from the Yale School of Medicine found that adolescents who were exposed to maltreatment as children showed a reduction in gray matter in areas of the brain that control emotions and impulses, though they had not been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.
Adolescents who experienced abuse or neglect as children have fewer brain cells than teens who did not undergo childhood maltreatment, a new Yale study finds. It found that the specific brain areas affected may differ according to whether adolescents reported experiencing abuse or neglect, whether the maltreatment was physical or emotional and whether they were male or female. Experts cautioned that the results of the study were only an association, and longer-term studies were needed.
Structural MRI scans done on 41 adolescents found reductions in the prefrontal cortex, important in emotional and behavioral regulation, across all cases of maltreatment. Other areas affected depended on the type of maltreatment reported.
It has been shown over and over again that prevention is better than the cure. Children are more likely to resort to positive behavior if they acquire support from you when they are following your rules. Begin using a reward graph and add areas for bonus points for very agreeable actions.
Those who reported physical or emotional neglect, for example, showed reductions in the cerebellum, which controls motor functions and regulates pleasure and fear. Those who had been exposed to physical abuse in particular showed reductions in the insula, an area that controls self-awareness ­­— which may explain why so many people who have been abused as children report out-of-body experiences
Pressure from peers might be influencing their difficult conduct. If you cannot speak to the other kids' guardians, pay a visit to your kids' school and then determine what the scenario really is, maybe by meeting with their teachers. If your children's chums do not go to that school, do all you can in order to minimize how much communication they have with those chums of theirs who cause problems. Try to get your children to spend time in your house instead, and tell their friends that they should follow your house guidelines, or they'll end up being told to go home.
Despite the physical symptoms of childhood maltreatment, some adolescents in the study remained more resilient than others. The structural decreases may have left adolescents vulnerable to future psychological problems — which just haven’t occurred yet, or the adolescents tested have found alternative mechanisms to adapt to their difficult surroundings.
Getting upset is effortless if this happens several times a day or if you're drained. Develop a child behavior strategy to help you remain serene; this may set an example and teach your sons or daughters to try and do the same thing. Go to some other spot in your home if you think that you are about to blow up in frustration.