Sharing – Kids Who Witness Domestic Violence May Suffer Mentally for Decades
I think we already knew that kids who grew up in households where there was domestic violence are more likely to have issues with depression, anxiety, and other mental health struggles. The ACE research would bear that out too. But, the side of this research that we don’t see mentioned in these articles often is the part I want you to read:
“”We were encouraged to discover that so many adults overcame their exposure to this early adversity and are free of mental illness and thriving,” said study co-author Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz, a professor in the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel.
“Our analysis indicated that social support was an important factor,” she added. “Among those who had experienced [parental domestic violence], those who had more social support had much higher odds of being in excellent mental health.””
Despite childhood trauma’s disadvantages, kids can recover after childhood trauma and live perfectly healthy, successful lives. They need help. They need a support system and people there to help them navigate it, but childhood trauma is not, as we often hear a life sentence.
I wish we would talk about this more. Survivors could use the reminder.
