Troubled Childhood
                                                                                                     

 

It is well documented that the HSP with difficult childhoods are prone to anxiety, depression and other emotional problems in adult life. One of the issues we have found in our practice is that HSP don’t want to discuss hardships in childhood. Perhaps they are looking at their childhood through the lens of a child or as a child they ‘shut down’ or disconnected emotionally. Sometimes they find it overwhelming to think about or that they are being disloyal by talking about family or friends. The important aspect to clarify is that’s its not about blame or individual family members, it’s about their individual experience and how they dealt with issues or conflict as a child. As a child you would not be aware of experiencing sensations on a deeper level so you would just assume you are not behaving like your peers. As these patterns were developed as a child and carried into adult life, it is important to understand and explore this issue.

 

There can be some long-lasting effects on the child who was not emotional supported in childhood, these include:

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• Having low self-esteem or worth - although they may know that they are loved they may not feel it.  
   

• Feeling unsupported and being unable to trust that someone can support you when you are emotionally vulnerability
   

• Feeling different from others, not belonging or feeling valued.
   

• Adopting a sense that they need more, not in a greedy way but often fearing they won't have enough
   

• Adopting addictive behaviours as they try to medicate feelings as they lack the ability to comfort themselves.
   

• Generally feeling fearful, not feeling connected with their body or lacking in self-care.
   

• Feeling uncertain about how they feel and what to do to help yourself.
   

• Feeling a lack of resilience.