Part I: QUIZ: Are You an Adult Child of Trauma?

The mind-body connection is a strong one, especially when there has been significant childhood trauma. This connection is one that often complicates diagnosis and treatment of clinical depression and anxiety, and other mental illnesses and can even make associated auto-immune disorders difficult to treat. Recognizing untreated childhood trauma may be the first step in the healing process, allowing individuals to eventually, with treatment, heal and go on to live happier, healthier, more productive lives.

It is vitally important for people living with depression to recognize if they have experienced untreated childhood trauma.

Highlights

By Chaplain Adele M. Gill
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
2/16/2018 (6 years ago)

Published in Health

Keywords: childhood trauma, depression, PTSD, autoimmune, auto-immune, Adele Gill, Adele M. Gill, From Broken to Blest: Embracing the Healing that Awaits You, stress, mental health, mental illness, Healing, Catholic, Christian

It is vitally important for people living with depression to recognize if they have experienced untreated childhood trauma, a condition that is often undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or even overlooked. Though this is a cursory patient assessment, 'Are You an Adult Child of Trauma?' (below) may be very helpful in quantifying ones childhood experience, paving the way for more effective counseling, and enhancing medical and mental health care. This quiz is designed to clarify whether or not an individual has experienced some form of childhood trauma so they can get the help needed to heal in body, mind, and spirit. Sometimes simply understanding that one has had a traumatic past is enough to open new doors for treatment and healing, thereby maximizing mental, emotional, and physical health and wellness. 

The following quiz, 'Are You an Adult Child of Trauma' may be most beneficial in helping individuals recognize any 'old thorns' they may have from their childhoods, and assisting them to heal more quickly and thoroughly from associated depression. Depression and the other effects of  untreated childhood trauma can prevent a person from living their best life. 

When left unattended, depression and untreated childhood trauma can hold people back, and deny them the privilege of pressing forward with their lives, preventing them from enjoying life on its terms. Early prevention, recognition and intervention in untreated childhood trauma and associated depression is key to good mind-body health and may prevent PTSD, and autoimmune and neurological illness from taking root, as well. 

                                  Quiz: Are You an Adult Child of Trauma?

Developed by Adele M. Gill

1. Would you describe your childhood as difficult, abusive, or traumatic?  [Yes or No]

2. Did either of your parents (or both) live with an untreated mental illness or an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol?  [Yes or No]

3. Were your parents separated or divorced during your childhood?   [Yes or No] 

4. Do you have frequent bouts of depression and sadness, emotional highs and lows, anger, panic attacks or anxiety?    [Yes or No]

5. Do you have nightmares or flashbacks relating to your childhood?  [Yes or No]

6. Do you often get colds, rashes, gastric upset, psoriasis, or infections?  [Yes or No]

7. Do you battle fatigue or disorganization in your daily life, having difficulty 'keepin up' with your own schedule of daily activities?   [Yes or No]

8. Do you have trouble staying with a job for longer than 2 years?  [Yes or No]

9. Do you have an addiction to alcohol, drugs, food, or anything else?   [Yes or No]

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10. Do you feel your family often blamed you for things that went wrong in the family? [Yes or No]

11. Did anyone in your family call you the family "an odd duck" or similar? [Yes or No]

12. Were you the class clown in your class at school in your youth?   [Yes or No]

13. Were you frequently ostracized at home?   [Yes or No]

14. Do you have trouble remembering your childhood?    [Yes or No]

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Score: Tabulate "Yes" answers

• If you answered "Yes" to 3 to 4 of the questions, it is possible you may have experienced some sort of trauma in your childhood.

• If you answered "Yes" to 5 to 7 of the questions, it is likely you have experienced a moderate level of childhood trauma in your youth.  

• If you answered "Yes" to 8 to 14 questions, there is a high probability that you experienced severe childhood trauma.

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When caring for oneself or for others with depression from untreated childhood trauma, the information procured from this quiz can expedite the therapy process, and bring great relief and healing to the person experiencing the depression. It can help shorten the time an individual spends in therapy, as it helps them to gently clarify what transpired in their youth, allowing them to acknowledge, name, and claim what happened to them as the memories resurface with their therapist. It also enables them to actively engage in the healing process. 

Other benefits of healing from depression with associated untreated childhood trauma include improved quality of relationships, less time lost from work, decrease in fatigue, increase in vitality, decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improved overall physical health as healing ensues. Clearly, untreated childhood trauma must be dealt with to help individuals realize and embrace the mind-body healing that awaits them. Let the healing begin!

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Adapted from the new inspirational self-help book, 'From Broken to Blest: Embracing the Healing that Awaits You' by Adele M. Gill and Dr. Verna Benner Carson, now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, in print and ebook formats.

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