Identifying the symptoms of developmental trauma in children can be difficult because they are more subtle and therefore often invisible to the untrained. In infants, symptoms of developmental trauma include a panicked look in the infant’s eyes, a frantic searching for the mother’s face, repeated nonverbal attempts to engage the mother in some way, inconsolable crying, retching and vomiting--all of which are signs of deep emotional distress.
It is
possible to look at the faces of very young children and immediately grasp what
is happening in their inner world. Those with mothers who are attentive and
attuned to their needs look happy and secure, while others show anxiety,
uncertainty and may even look depressed and act withdrawn.
After age three, developmental trauma appears as
difficulties with the give-and-take aspect of relationship. Children may have
difficulty sharing or may cling to adult caregivers. These children get caught
in their struggle to have "enough" of something, which is often a
sign that their early bonding needs have not been met. In both younger and
older children, the predominant behavioral symptoms of developmental trauma are
hypervigilance and emotional overwhelm.
Symptoms of developmental trauma in children also can be
identified through biochemical markers such as increased cortisol levels. A
large number of scientific studies indicate that developmental trauma causes
difficulties in learning effective coping skills, attention and other kinds of
learning problems, impaired immune systems and difficulties in engaging in
meaningful social relationships.
Developmental traumas also create hyper-sensitivity to the
loss of the energetic connection with the primary caregiver, particularly their
mothers. These situational sensitivities create relational "triggers"
that gradually wire the child’s psyche, brain and nervous system to anticipate
and cope with stress. Developmental trauma is the primary cause of the the
avoidant and anxious/ambivalent forms of insecure bonding sometimes referred to
as “disturbed attachment.”
As children get older, there are often sufficient behavioral criteria visible for making mental health diagnosis for “Reactive Attachment Disorder” (RAD). The RAD diagnosis has two different varieties: the Inhibited Type, in which the child withdraws and "acts in," which correlates with the avoidant form of insecure bonding; and the Disinhibited Type, in which the child "acts out," which correlates with the anxious/ambivalent form of insecure bonding.
If the DSM-V to be released in 2012 adopts the Developmental Trauma Disorder diagnosis, it will likely encapsulate RAD and other childhood diagnostic categories such as bipolar disorder, ADHA, PTSD, conduct disorder, phobic anxiety, reactive attachment disorder and separation anxiety. This new category would still not address the subtle kinds of relational trauma that we focus on.
At a behavioral level, the most common symptom of Developmental Trauma in children is hyperactive, out of control behaviors that repeatedly test the limits of the adult caregivers. This testing of limits is the primary way that children determine who is in charge in their environment—the adults or the children. Limit-testing is a actually way that children show adult caregivers that they do not feel safe and that they are wanting them to set and enforce limits. Unfortunately, much of this is perceived as "misbehavior" and adult go into punishment mode.
When children do not feel safe, they learn a myriad of ways
to take charge of their environment. They use aggressive, demanding,
oppositional and defiant behaviors designed to intimidate and control the weak
or ambivalent adults around them.
The most effective route is setting clear limits and then
providing consequences that help reinforce the limits. The more consistently
limits are enforced, the more that children feel safe. When children feel safe
and relinquish control of their environment, they are free to learn and grow.
Children who live in consistently unsafe environments may continue to grow
physically, but socially and emotionally they will be delayed in their
development.
When adults do not explain the rules for behavior and social
interactions and the consequences for breaking these rules, children do not
feel safe. They only feel safe with rules that protect them from harm and when
there are consequences in place for those who violate the rules. In fact,
children’s “misbehavior” is really a way of forcing adults to set limits.
Here's a checklist of more specific behaviors that indicate the presence of developmental trauma that you can print out.
For more information on For more information on healing the personal aspects of developmental trauma, view the five segments we've posted about it our YouTube channel theweinholds, view the five segments we've posted about it our YouTube channel theweinholds.
http://www.youtube.com/user/theweinholds
Reference
van der Kolk, B. & R. Pynoos, Proposal to include a developmental trauma disorder diagnosis for children and adolescents in DSM-V
http://www.traumacenter.org/announcements/DTD_NCTSN_official_submission_to_DSM_V_Final_Version.pdf
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