From the author: original article here: Today we will talk about psychological traumas; sometimes, in everyday psychology, the consequences of these traumas are called “psychological complexes.” And first of all, we will talk about childhood psychological trauma and the impact they have on later adult life. Psychological trauma is a reactive mental formation (reaction to events that are significant for a given person), causing long-term emotional experiences and having a long-term psychological impact. The cause of trauma can be any significant event for a person, and there are a huge number of sources: Family conflicts.1. Serious illnesses, death, death of family members.2. Divorce of parents.3. Overprotection from elders.4. Coldness of intra-family relations and alienation.5. Material and everyday problems. Does a person know about his psychological traumas? Knowledge alone is not enough. People seek psychological help regarding their negative experiences or unconstructive behavior patterns, but do not associate their current condition with psychological trauma, especially childhood trauma. In most cases, the traumatic effect is of an implicit, hidden nature. We are talking, as a rule, about the inability of the immediate environment, especially the mother, to provide the child with an atmosphere of trust and emotional security. A traumatic situation may be hidden behind an apparently quite prosperous home environment, in particular, behind a situation of hyper-custody and hyper-protection, when no one even suspects that very important sensory and behavioral components are missing in the relationship between parents and children. Significant parental figures often themselves suffer from various forms of personality disorders; constant conflicts in the family, tense relationships, signs of domestic and psychological violence prevent full emotional interaction in the family and, as a result, the normal mental development of the offspring. The famous psychologist Eric Berne proposed the idea of ​​“life scenarios” that dictate our actions and our behavior in general. This is an unconscious life plan that we borrowed from our parents, and which gives us the illusion of control over the situation and life. Usually by the age of 7 this script has already been laid down, and in the future a person builds his life largely due to the influence of this unconscious script. When solving his life problems, a person is forced to solve the problems of his parents, his grandparents. You need to understand that this is not a detailed exact copy of the generic scenario, but a general direction and constant work on the mistakes of your own and your ancestors. This situation is aggravated in virginity by directive messages from parents to their child, when parents, out of “good intentions,” instill in their child attitudes as needed live. A directive is a hidden order, implicitly formulated in the words or actions of a parent, for failure to comply with which the child will be punished. Not explicitly (with a spanking or a slap on the head, silent blackmail or scolding), but indirectly - with one’s own sense of guilt before the parent who gave this directive. Moreover, the child cannot understand the true reasons for his guilt without outside help. After all, it is by following directives that he feels “good and correct.” The prime directive, in which all the others could be included, is: “Don’t be yourself.” A person with this directive is constantly dissatisfied with himself. Such people live in a state of painful internal conflict. The rest of the directives below explain this. Here are brief examples of such directives (there are dozens of them and each of them can be analyzed in great detail): “Don’t live.” How many problems you brought us when you were born. “Don’t trust yourself.” We know better what you need in this life. “Don’t be a child.” Be serious, don't be happy. And a person, having become an adult, cannot learn to fully rest andrelax because he feels guilty for his “childish” desires and needs. On top of everything else, such a person has a strict barrier in communicating with children. “Don’t feel.” This message can be conveyed by parents who themselves are accustomed to restraining their feelings. The child learns not to “hear” signals from his body and soul about possible troubles. “Be the best.” Otherwise you won't be able to be happy. And since it is impossible to be the best in everything, then this child will never see happiness in life. “You can’t trust anyone, you should believe me!” The child learns that the world around him is hostile and only the cunning and treacherous survive in it. “Don’t do it.” As a result, the child is afraid to make any decisions on his own. Not knowing what is safe, he experiences difficulties, doubts and excessive fears at the beginning of each new business. But how much do psychological traumas affect today's life? I will just give two examples that are confirmed by scientific research, although there is much more research. The World Health Organization conducted a study of people who had suffered any kind of psychological trauma in childhood. It turned out that it is much more difficult for such people to make a career than for those who did not have strong emotional upheavals in childhood. It turns out that mental disorders in childhood lead to a slowdown in a person’s social development - it becomes more difficult for him to make friends, adapt to new groups and get along with people . According to Dr. Norito Kawakami of the University of Tokyo, who led the research team that conducted the study, scientists found a clear correlation between childhood depression, lack of attention, experiences of physical or mental abuse and low levels of income in adulthood. The results of the experiment are valid for both men and women. The study surveyed nearly 40,000 people from 22 countries, aged 18 to 64 years. The scientists collected information about the level of income, social status, education of each respondent, and at the same time clarified data on the state of mental health of the respondents, starting from birth. Indeed, childhood sorrows give rise to the desire to withdraw, to isolate themselves from the world, and in most cases it is impossible to make a successful career in seclusion... Another study was conducted by specialists from the BioMed Central health center and published in the journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. Thus, a study led by Dr. Tara Strine showed that adverse childhood events such as emotional, physical or sexual trauma can cause the development of nicotine addiction. And in this case, treatment of cigarette addiction must begin with the treatment of childhood trauma. More than 7,000 people took part in the study, approximately 50% of whom were women. Taking into account previously identified risk factors such as parental alcohol use and smoking, physical and emotional trauma occurring in childhood reliably ranked first in the risk group. However, a similar picture was observed only in the female sample. Thus, women with a history of traumatic childhood events are 1.4 times more likely to be susceptible to this addiction. In men, researchers believe there is a wider range of protective and compensatory mechanisms that have yet to be studied. The study's findings suggest that the mechanism driving the link between childhood trauma in women and tobacco cravings is psychological stress. The risk is especially high for those who have experienced emotional or physical abuse. What to do with childhood psychological trauma? We all come from childhood, therefore we carry a large number of painful experiences and unconscious wounds that will in every possible way hinder the healthy harmonious development of a person’s personality. These experiences can be very different and accompanied by various feelings: guilt,