Medical science has determined that emotional trauma causes more physical illness for those who are adults at the time of the trauma than for children. With that fact in mind, it is surprising that pediatric trauma can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) later in life. CFS is marked by a feeling of tiredness so severe that the usual activities of the day can't be completed. To be considered CFS, the fatigue must last for at least six months.
Triggered by Stress
Although other factors are usually present, a study has showed that pediatric trauma increases the development of chronic fatigue syndrome in individuals with those factors by many times. Emotional instability, genes and family factors are all risk factors for CFS. The studies that connect CFS to pediatric trauma used twins to weigh family factors with the stress elements.
Although the traumas occurred in childhood, the CFS often did not develop until decades later. In addition, the more serious the trauma was, the more likely it was that CFS would result. The study showed that people who had experience the pediatric trauma of sexual abuse were eight times more likely to develop CFS. Those who experienced physical neglect in childhood were 5.9 times more likely.
Childhood emotional neglect caused a 4.6 fold risk. Close behind is the pediatric trauma of physical abuse at 4.3 times the likelihood and emotional abuse came in at 2.9 times the risk. These findings may lead to studying chronic fatigue syndrome as a disorder of the brain rather than the body. Emotional trauma changes the structure of the brain, according to studies using brain scans. Among the symptoms of such trauma are withdrawal and a feeling of physical tiredness that comes short of CFS.
When linked with emotional instability, pediatric trauma is thought to increase the probability that the victim's brain will not be able to adapt or compensate when faced with a challenge which leads to physical disease. The key factor of emotional instability is considered to be a personality trait.
People with this trait tend to exhibit low self-esteem, anxiety, guilt and depression. Such a trait can make a person less able to handle pediatric trauma. Those with the trait have a 72% higher risk of CFS. High levels of stress increased the risk by 64%. Perhaps the lesson to be learned - until more studies are done - is that pediatric trauma should be treated even when the affected child shows no immediate symptoms.
