2024, Stefan Molyneux
Peaceful Parenting
https://rss.com/podcasts/peacefulparenting
Global Prevalence of Child Abuse
Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Child Abuse
Insidious Changes and Long-term Effects of Lockdowns
The Bomb in the Brain
Adverse Childhood Experiences: ACE Study Introduction
Underreporting of Childhood Physical Abuse
Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences
Health Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences
Types of Child Abuse and Their Consequences
Effects of Verbal Abuse on Children
In this lecture, we delve into the global prevalence of child abuse, shedding light on the alarming statistics and impacts of abuse on children's lives. Reports indicate that child abuse is not as rare as some may believe, with approximately half of children worldwide facing various forms of violence annually. The COVID-19 lockdowns further exacerbated instances of physical child abuse globally, with significant increases reported in various countries.
Low-income and middle-income countries, such as Uganda, experienced a drastic surge in child abuse cases during the lockdowns. Even wealthy nations like the UK and France saw alarming spikes in abusive incidents. The long-term effects of the increased abuse during the pandemic are concerning, with changes in parenting behaviors and a rise in child abuse hospitalizations reported.
Corporal punishment remains a pervasive issue globally, leading to harm and even fatalities for numerous children each year. Shockingly, up to 77 countries endorse violent penalties for children, highlighting the widespread nature of the problem. Studies show that a significant percentage of children worldwide experience violence, emphasizing the urgent need to address this issue on a global scale.
The adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) studies provide valuable insights into the lasting impacts of childhood abuse and trauma on individuals' health and well-being into adulthood. ACEs, which include traumatic events or circumstances experienced before the age of 18, have been linked to a wide range of health issues and social disparities later in life.
Verbal and emotional abuse can have profound effects on children's psychological well-being, shaping their self-perceptions and cognitive development. Research shows a high prevalence of verbal abuse in households, with detrimental impacts on children's mental health and brain structure. Exposure to parental verbal abuse has been associated with decreased neuron count in the hippocampus, affecting emotional regulation and cognitive function.
Understanding the prevalence and effects of different forms of abuse, including neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, is crucial in addressing the complex challenges faced by children worldwide. Recognizing the long-term consequences of childhood abuse is essential for fostering a safe and nurturing environment for children to thrive and reach their full potential.
In this lecture, we discuss the widespread issue of child abuse globally. Alarming statistics reveal that approximately half of all children worldwide experience some form of violence annually, with the COVID-19 lockdowns exacerbating instances of physical abuse. Corporal punishment remains a prevalent issue, resulting in harm and fatalities for children in numerous countries. Understanding the long-term impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is crucial for addressing the complex challenges faced by children and fostering a safe environment for their growth and development.
lecture
child abuse
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COVID-19
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adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)Add Tag
[0:00]
Global Prevalence of Child Abuse
[0:00]
Peaceful Parenting, by Stefan Molyneux, Part 22, Global Prevalence of Child Abuse.
Well, perhaps child abuse is so rare that there's no good reason to prioritize it, right? Not so.
Globally, reports indicate that approximately half of children aged 2 to 17
years encounter various forms of violence annually.
And about 58% of children in Latin America and 61% in North America underwent
physical, sexual, and or emotional abuse within the past year.
[0:37]
Notably, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, instances of physical child abuse surged.
From a recent paper, there is emerging evidence that lockdowns significantly
worsened child abuse on a global scale.
Low-income and middle-income countries are particularly vulnerable to increases in child abuse.
In Uganda, for example, there was a 1,565% increase in the average number of
calls per day to the Uganda Child Helpline in the first month of lockdown.
Yet even wealthy nations in the West did not escape unscathed.
In the UK, there was a 1,493% increase in cases of abusive head trauma at Great
Ormond Street Hospital.
In France, there was an 89% increase in national child abuse helpline calls,
a 48% increase in home visits by law enforcement officers, and a 50% increase
in the relative frequency of child abuse hospitalizations.
[1:37]
Furthermore, there appears to have been insidious changes with potentially long-term
effects, which are more difficult to measure.
In the Netherlands, for example, there was a 32% increase in previously rare
harsh parenting behaviors, including shaking and name-calling.
[1:56]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 11% of surveyed
adolescents experienced physical abuse and more than 55% of adolescents experienced
emotional abuse during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic alone.
With socially vulnerable adolescents disproportionately harmed,
these results were compared with a similar pre-lockdown survey which found 5.5%
physical abuse and 13.9% emotional abuse in 2013.
This rise in physical abuse significantly correlated with soaring unemployment
rates, marked by a strong correlation coefficient of 0.92.
[2:39]
Corporal punishment is a pervasive global issue, causing harm and even fatalities
for numerous children annually.
Shockingly, up to 77 countries endorse violent penalties for children,
encompassing acts ranging from execution to corporal measures such as caning,
flogging, and stoning, and in certain cases, amputation.
From a recent source. A minimum of 50% of children in Asia, Africa,
and Northern America experienced violence over the past year.
The number of 2 to 17-year-olds who experienced the most severe forms of violence
is estimated to be at least 64% of children in Asia,
56% in Northern America, 50% in Africa, 34% in Latin America, and 12% in Europe.
[3:38]
Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Child Abuse
[3:39]
Overall, over half of all children in the world, 1 billion children,
ages 2 to 17 years, experience violence every year.
[3:56]
How often are children under the age of two hit?
Quote, In a national survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund,
11% of parents reported having spanked a child 6 to 11 months of age.
36% reported having spanked a child 2 to 17 months of age and 59% reported having
spanked a child 18 to 23 months of age.
59% again that is only what is reported and by the perpetrators,
in a 2014 study mothers agreed to
wear audio recorders at home as they parented the study shockingly reveals that
while American parents reported spanking their children 18 times a year the
actual recordings showed that they were hitting at a rate that would equal to
a staggering 936 times a year.
That is a dramatic 52 times more than they estimated.
[5:10]
A 2009 study on the reliability of self-reported childhood physical abuse by
adults revealed that when individuals were asked about CPA, child physical abuse,
on multiple occasions, the reported prevalence increased,
suggesting a significant under-reporting on a single inquiry.
The report showed an increase over time of 27.5%.
[5:36]
From Reliability of Self-Reported Childhood Physical Abuse by Adults and Fact
as Predictive of Inconsistent Reporting, quote,
These results are also compatible with several studies which demonstrated that
child abuse is frequently underreported by adults.
One study estimated that only half of subjects exposed to CPA are identified
through initial questioning. Furthermore, research has indicated that few individuals
report a history of abuse when none exists.
If true, inconsistent reporters of CPA predominantly represent individuals with a history of CPA,
and using any positive response across multiple inquiries would seem a reasonable
approach to obtaining a more accurate estimate of CPA prevalence.
However, though estimates based on multiple inquiries are likely an improvement
over a single inquiry, such estimates are still likely to be conservative since
some respondents who experience CPA do not disclose it even when asked multiple times.
[6:44]
According to the American Society for the Positive Care for Children ,
45.6% of children who die from child abuse are under one year of age.
And children under the age of one experience the highest rate of child abuse.
Let's look across the world. A 2014 UNICEF report titled Hidden in Plain Sight
estimates that roughly 6 in 10 children worldwide between the ages of 2 and
14 are regularly physically punished, beaten by their caregivers.
That is almost a billion children.
[7:27]
Here, of course, we are only counting direct violence against children,
other forms of psychological and mental abuse and torture, are not captured
by generic child abuse statistics.
For instance, what about the agony of children going through protracted parental divorces?
What about the mental effects on children of telling them that the world is
going to end in fire and destruction within a decade or two due to global warming?
What are the psychological effects on children when they find out that multi-million
dollar inescapable loans had been taken out in their names before they were even born?
What about society's unwillingness or inability to find moral meaning and spiritual
comfort after the general fall of Christianity as a cultural and psychological force?
What effect does it have on boys to be consistently scorned and attacked by
feminist teachers over the course of their education?
There are countless ways in which modern society harms or undermines children
that are not counted in typical reviews of the prevalence of child abuse.
[8:37]
Insidious Changes and Long-term Effects of Lockdowns
[8:37]
If we truly unearthed everything that was going wrong, we would find it hard
to find anything that was going right.
[8:52]
Children can perform moral reasoning at 15 months.
[8:59]
Perhaps children are hit because they cannot perform moral reasoning. Let's look at the data.
Quote, Human cooperation is a
key driving force behind the evolutionary success of our homonym lineage.
At the proximate level, biologists and social scientists have identified other
regarding preferences such as fairness based on egalitarian motives and altruism
as likely candidates for fostering large-scale cooperation.
First, in contrast to past work suggesting that fairness and altruism may not
emerge until early to mid-childhood,
15-month-old infants are sensitive to fairness and can engage in altruistic sharing.
Second, infants' degree of sensitivity to fairness as a third-party observer
was related to whether they shared toys altruistically or selfishly,
indicating that moral evaluations and prosocial behavior are heavily interconnected
from early in development.
Our results present the first evidence that the roots of a basic sense of fairness
and altruism can be found in infancy, and that these other regarding preferences
develop in a parallel and interwoven fashion.
[10:25]
From Fairness, Expectations, and Altruistic Sharing in 15-Month-Old Human Infants,
2011, Schmidt, Somerville.
So for years we hit children who are capable of moral reasoning.
We beat when we should speak.
[10:43]
The Bomb in the Brain
[10:44]
And then we complain about the violence in the world.
[10:53]
The bomb in the brain.
Now we turn to the darkest heart of the matter.
If the world is hell because of childhood, then child abuse is the relentless
fuel feeding that inferno.
From the moment they take their first breath, the happiness of children is a
blank canvas, waiting, eager and ready to be painted with experiences, memories, and lessons.
The strokes we choose to mark them with will heavily influence,
even define, the adults they will become.
When a child's canvas is marred by the savage slashes of abuse,
a bomb is silently implanted in their brain.
A bomb that slowly detonates over time, damaging their potential,
those around them, and our collective future.
To truly understand this, let's step into the world of a very young child.
[12:04]
In their eyes, everything is new, fascinating, and profound.
They look up to their caregivers for guidance, acceptance, and love.
The early years of a child's life are the formative years.
During this time, their brain is like soft clay, molding and adapting to the
environment and the stimuli provided.
What happens when this environment is filled with violence, neglect, abuse, and trauma?
We know. We know what happens.
And we have known for many decades. But the information has been kept hidden
from the public, doubtless by those who enact and profit from it.
Here's exactly what has been kept hidden from you and denied you your chance
to truly understand the world and how to fix it.
[13:14]
Adverse Childhood Experiences: ACE Study Introduction
[13:14]
Adverse childhood experiences.
[13:22]
How can we measure the pain of a child?
How can we measure and quantify the effects of early brutal suffering?
Let's delve more deeply into the metrics of adverse childhood experiences.
The adverse childhood experiences, studies, and methodologies have mapped the
suffering of children over many decades, even entire lifespans.
The horror and tragedy of early abuse and its effects on lives as a whole have
consistently emerged in horrifying detail and clarity.
[14:11]
Adverse childhood experiences, colloquially known as ACEs, are not merely passing
clouds in the vast sky of life.
They are the tectonic tempests that have profound and lasting impacts on the
architecture of the developing child's brain, on their emotional fibers,
and on the health and safety of their adult lives.
These scars are not always visible to the naked eye, and that's where the gravest dangers lie.
30 years of data hidden from the public.
[14:50]
The Adverse Childhood Experiences, ACE, study is an ongoing collaboration between
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health
Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.
Starting in 1995, over 17,000 HMO patients have provided detailed information
about their own childhood abuse, neglect, and dysfunction, while also undergoing
comprehensive physical exams.
The data from these continuous ACE studies have been used as the foundation
for more than 50 scientific articles and over 100 conference and workshop presentations.
Of note, these were not people low in socioeconomic status.
They had premium health insurance in a time of far fewer state subsidies in the industry.
[15:45]
Underreporting of Childhood Physical Abuse
[15:46]
At the time of writing this book, Almost 30 years have passed since the beginning of the ACE research.
[16:00]
It took less time for scientists to prove that smoking was largely responsible for lung cancer.
Why have the dangers of child abuse not been broadcast to the public as a whole?
Why do we remain so elementally ignorant?
It is a painful question and an even more painful answer.
The ACE data. data, what it shows.
The data shows that adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, are unexpectedly common,
have profound negative effects on adult health and well-being even half a century later,
and are prime determinants of adult health status in the United States.
How many times have you heard that on the nightly news?
The same news that is so eager to tell you about every other conceivable form
of danger, real or imagined.
The same media that terrified you about the relatively slight risks of COVID
refuses to inform you of the deep and genuine risks of child abuse. use.
[17:24]
ACEs defined.
ACEs are a set of traumatic events or circumstances that children can experience
before they reach the age of 18.
The ACE quiz is 10 yes or no questions.
For each question you answer yes to, you add one point to your ACE score.
The total number at the end is your overall ACE score.
Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often swear at you,
insult you, put you down or humiliate you or act in a way that made you afraid
that you might be physically hurt?
Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often push,
grab, slap or throw something at you or ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?
Did an adult or person at least five years older than you ever touch or fondle
you or have you touch their body in a sexual way or attempt or actually have
oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?
[18:39]
Did you often or very often feel that no one in your family loved you or thought
you were important or special?
Or your family didn't look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?
Did you often or very often feel that you didn't have enough to eat,
had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you?
Or your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you? or take you to the doctor if you needed it.
Were your parents ever separated or divorced?
[19:21]
Was your mother or stepmother often or very often pushed, grabbed,
slapped, or had something thrown at her?
Or sometimes, often or very often, kicked, bitten, hit with a fist,
or hit with something hard? or ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes
or threatened with a gun or knife?
Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic or who used street drugs?
Was a household member depressed or mentally ill or did a household member attempt suicide?
Did a household member go to prison?
[20:10]
Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences
[20:10]
Of note, some ACE studies modify the questions slightly, but in general they
follow the same patterns and associations.
[20:21]
Prevalence of ACEs Over the decades, a massive amount of data has been gathered
which sheds light on the prevalence of these traumatic events.
Recent studies have indicated a staggering prevalence of ACEs across populations.
How accurate is the reporting? As we get into the studies and numbers,
it is important to note that abuse is significantly under-reported,
and some abuse cannot be remembered at all.
How prevalent is horror and abuse in the lives of children?
According to the CDC, sampling from every U.S.
State and the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2020, 64% of adults reported
that they had experienced at least one ACE,
while 17% stated that they had faced four or more different ACEs.
[21:27]
A 2020 study of 211,376 adults across 34 states showed 57.8% of adults report at least one ACE,
with 21.5% reporting three or more ACEs.
From the Frequencies and Disparities of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the
U.S., Quote, females had significantly higher ACEs than males, 1.64 to 1.46.
[22:06]
Multiracial individuals had a significantly higher ACEs, 2.39,
than all other races, ethnicities, while white individuals had significantly
lower mean ACE scores, 1.53,
than black, 1.66, or Hispanic, 1.63 individuals.
The 25 to 34 age group had a significantly higher mean ACE score than any other group, 1.98.
Generally, those with higher income-slash-educational attainment had lower mean
ACE scores than those with lower income-slash-educational attainment.
Sexual minority individuals had higher ACEs than straight individuals,
with significantly higher ACEs in bisexual individuals, 3.01%.
[23:06]
ACEs and Health Adverse childhood experiences are terribly common.
Let's start to break them down by race and income and examine the health effects
associated with higher ACEs.
The results of a 2016 study show adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, distribution.
25.7% of children experience serious financial hardship.
Most other ACEs affect less than 10% of children.
Death of a parent and explicit racial or ethnic discrimination impact less than 5% of children.
[23:52]
Adversity experience based on household income. Majority of children in the
lowest two income groups report at least one ACE.
Children in families below the federal poverty level, FPL,
are three times more likely to have more or equal to two ACEs than those at or above 400% of the FPL,
34.9% versus 9.7%, five times more likely to experience greater than or equal
to four ACEs than those at 400% of the FPL.
[24:39]
28.7% of low-income and 20.9% of middle-income families are likely to experience
greater than or equal to two ACEs.
A significant decrease in ACEs for children in families at or above 400% of the FPL.
75% of children in the highest income group reported no ACEs versus only 33%
in the lowest income group.
[25:12]
Relationship between Income Gradient and Specific ACEs Financial hardship steeply varies with income.
However, 25% of children in families above 200% of the FPL experience it.
Divorce affects more than 20% of all but the highest income group.
Drug and alcohol exposures impact more than 10% of all but the highest-income group.
Over 8% in all but the highest-income group have a parent with a mental illness.
Only the highest-income group seems mostly free from these common adversities.
[25:59]
Health Outcomes and ACEs 1 ACE increases the odds of health issues by 25 to 84%.
2 ACEs increase odds by 48 to 160%. 3 ACEs result in 53 to 251% increased odds.
Four or more ACEs amplify odds by 95 to 462%.
[26:41]
Health Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences
[26:41]
Emotional, behavioral, and
developmental problems are notably influenced by a higher number of ACEs.
[26:55]
Differences based on income. For the lowest income group, less than 100% FPL,
having up to four ACEs doesn't consistently affect general health, oral health, or weight.
Asthma and emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems show a stepwise increase in odds.
The more ACEs, the more problems.
For the highest-income group, more than 400% FPL, each extra adversity usually
correlates with higher odds, except inconsistently for asthma.
Though ACEs are rarer in this group, when they occur, they significantly increase health problems.
[27:46]
ACEs and Health The original ACE study found that individuals who experienced
four or more categories of childhood exposure compared to those with none,
faced four to twelve times higher health risks for alcoholism,
drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempt.
They also had two to four times higher risk for smoking, poor,
self-rated health, engaging in sexual activity with 50 or more partners,
and contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Additionally, they exhibited a 1.4 to 1.6 times higher risk for physical inactivity and severe obesity.
[28:35]
Types of Child Abuse and Their Consequences
[28:35]
To view this information in graphical, narrated format, mat,
please visit freedomainplaylists.com forward slash B-I-B.
[28:49]
Types of Abuse In general, it is helpful to delineate the most common forms of child abuse.
They are Verbal slash emotional abuse Neglect Physical abuse Sexual abuse,
We will examine these major types of abuse and their effects in the sections below.
Before we start, I would like to make a couple of caveats and notes.
First of all, I really appreciate your courage and dedication in examining these issues.
Before we start, it might be worth going through the ACE questionnaire for yourself
to get a sense of what your own history was like and how any prior traumas might
affect your consumption of this information.
Secondly, as you go through this data, it is important to continually ask yourself
why this has all been kept hidden from the general public.
In Platonic philosophy there exists a realm of perfect forms that are inaccessible
to the general population but deeply understood by wise experts.
[30:12]
The difference between those who study and understand the ACE data in the general
population is one of the widest gaps in human society.
Not just because those of us who understand this information are in possession
of deep knowledge that almost completely explains society,
but because we are also aware of what can only be described as sinister forces
resources that keep this information from the general public,
thus aiding and abetting the billions of child abusers the world over.
[30:50]
The silent scars, verbal abuse, and its consequences.
In many cultures and households, words are wielded like weapons,
leaving scars that are invisible yet profoundly damaging.
Verbal abuse, often overshadowed by its physical counterpart,
is a form of abuse that can wreak havoc on a child's psyche,
shaping their worldview and undermining their self-worth for years, if not a lifetime.
First of all, what is verbal abuse?
Verbal abuse is the use of harsh and hurtful language while communicating with people.
These include harsh words, swear words, abusive words, hurtful words,
negative labels, and put-downs that are aggressive in nature.
Verbal abuse is associated with the following behaviors.
Insulting, yelling, nagging, criticizing, belittling, undermining,
swearing, threatening.
[32:04]
Research conducted at the University of New Hampshire revealed that among over
3,000 surveyed American parents, 63% acknowledged instances of verbal aggression
directed at children within their households.
This can range from name-calling, shaming, and threats to more insidious forms
of psychological manipulation.
[32:31]
While many argue that words will never hurt me, the empirical evidence paints a different picture.
Data on verbal abuse against children is hard to come by, but an indirect way
to measure it is the prevalence of verbal abuse between adults.
One study comprised 250 individuals with an average age of 27 years.
These participants were tasked with completing the emotional abuse questionnaire.
Among the participants, emotional abuse displayed high prevalence rates,
with approximately 80% being affected.
Expressive aggression, characterized by name-calling,
was reported by 40% of women and 32% of men, while coercive control was reported
by 41% of women and 43% of men.
[33:35]
In 2011, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey revealed that
nearly half of Americans had encountered lifelong emotional abuse from a partner.
The assessment of psychological aggression encompassed both expressive aggression and coercive control,
with 48.4% of women and 48.8% of men disclosing experiences of such behavior by an intimate partner.
As a result, emotional abuse emerges as the most prevalent type of intimate partner violence.
[34:13]
A 2014 study showed a significant link between parental psychological abuse
and mental health issues in adolescents.
Both mother and father abuse were correlated with mental health problems,
with a less than 5% chance that the results occurred purely due due to random variability,
adolescents who perceived more parental abuse experienced greater problems.
The analysis also showed that expected factors of parental psychological abuse
predicted adolescent mental health problems, explaining 10 to 49% of the variance.
Children are like sponges, absorbing not just the knowledge around them,
but also the emotional energies directed towards them.
When they are consistently subjected to harmful words, they begin to internalize these messages.
Children who are regularly told that they are worthless or stupid may grow into
adults who genuinely believe these things about themselves.
[35:30]
The psychological consequences of childhood verbal abuse are numerous and multifaceted.
Abused children often exhibit heightened levels of anxiety and are more susceptible
to mood disorders such as depression.
Their cognitive function can be impacted by some struggling academically due
to a perpetual fear of criticism or ridicule.
A hostile, unsupportive, or abusive setting creates significant stress,
negatively affecting brain development.
This concept finds support in the research paper titled, Childhood Maltreatment
is Associated with Reduced Volume in the Hippocampal Subfields, CA3,
Dentate Gyrus, and the Subiculum, authored by Teicher et al.
Well, this study highlights the fact that stress resulting from verbal abuse
during childhood can lead to a decrease in neuron count in the hippocampus,
a brain region tied to emotional regulation.
These findings suggest that verbal abuse inflicts structural changes on a child's brain.
[36:41]
From exposure to parental verbal abuse is associated with increased gray matter
volume in superior temporal gyrus, three specific regions of white matter tracts
displayed significantly lower fractional anisotropy, FA.
The arcuate fasciculus, located in the left superior temporal gyrus,
temporal, temporal, we'll get it, fasciculus, fasciculus.
Three specific regions of white matter tracts displayed significantly lower
fractional anisotropy, FA,
the arcuate fasciculus located in the left superior temporal gyrus,
the cingulum bundle adjacent to the posterior tail of the left hippocampus,
the left body of the fornix.
[37:35]
The degree of fractional anisotropy in these regions exhibited a substantial
negative correlation with average post-traumatic verbal abuse, PVA, scores,
ranging from RS equals minus 0.701 to minus 0.801 and levels of maternal verbal abuse.
Across all participant groups, Fractional anisotropy in region 1 was found to
be linked to verbal IQ and verbal comprehension index.
Furthermore, lower fractional anisotropy in region 2 was associated with higher
ratings of depression, dissociation, and limbic irritability.
Lastly, reduced fractional anisotropy in region 3 was correlated with elevated
ratings of somatization and anxiety.
In common terms, these connections known as fractional anisotropy were found
to be lower in three specific areas.
These lower levels of fractional anisotropy were strongly connected to higher
scores of post-traumatic verbal abuse, particularly from maternal figures.
[38:54]
Among all the people in the study, the strength of connections in the first
brain area was was connected to their ability to use words and understand language.
In the second area, where the connections were weaker, individuals tended to
report more feelings of depression, disconnection from themselves,
and heightened emotional reactivity.
Lastly, in the third area, when the connections were reduced,
people were more likely to experience physical symptoms related to stress and
increased feelings of unease.
[39:33]
Effects of Verbal Abuse on Children
[39:33]
Let us not forget the social aspect of this type of abuse.
Continual verbal assault can make children more withdrawn, prone to fearing
social interactions and perceiving potential threats, even in benign situations.
This can lead to isolation, difficulties in forming meaningful relationships,
and an overriding sense of loneliness.
[40:05]
The road to healing from verbal abuse is long and arduous.
However, it's essential to recognize that words,
especially the words of a parent, have great power, and their impact can be
profoundly difficult to treat, as they are the foundations of our self-perceptions.
If someone mars the lens with which you see the world and yourself it is that
much harder to notice the threat they pose to you as well as the damage itself
if someone compromises and corrupts the mechanism by which you form judgments
it is that much harder to hold them accountable,
to truly foster a nurturing environment for children it's crucial to be vigilant
about not just our actions, but also our words.Set Audio FileUndoRedo
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