Cheated Out of Childhood - That's CHITIN (Childhood Trauma is Invalidation)
This will blow your mind. If these statistics, as reported by Childhelp.org, don't send a shudder down your spine, I am not sure what will - and this is just in the United States of America which, coincidentally, has one of the worst track records among industrialized nations:
A child abuse is reported every ten seconds
We lose four to seven children to child abuse and neglect every day
More than 3.6 million referrals are made each year, involving 6.6 million children, each year to child protective agencies
In 2014, state agencies reported an estimated 702,000 cases of child maltreatment and 1,580 children died as a result of abuse and neglect; that's between four and five children each day. More than 80% of the children who died were not even young enough to be in kindergarten!
80% of 21-year olds who reported child abuse had at least one psychological disorder
About 66% percent of people in drug abuse treatment reported being abused as a child.
Between 500 million and 1.5 billion children worldwide endure some form of violence
About 25% of adults worldwide report having been abused during childhood
One in five women and one in thirteen men report having been abused as a child
And the most sobering statistic of all, as reported by CDC:
About 80% of perpetrators of abuse were parents!
If this is not rape of innocence, then what is? If this is not absolute darkness, then what is? If this is not the biggest sin, then what is? If this is not a societal pandemic, then what is?
While there are not many scientific studies linking childhood trauma and neglect with the excessive need for validation and approval from others, it is common sense that a child who was invalidated will seek validation even more aggressively because it is a primal instinct that's necessary for our survival. In fact, the studies on how self-compassion can heal the trauma caused by feelings of shame, self-blame, and guilt are only proof that self-validation is at work. How can we find self-compassion and self-love without feeling validated inside? While science is important, there are certain things we know instinctively and don't need scientific validation (no pun intended).
While not true in every case, childhood trauma caused by abuse, neglect and abandonment, is a potent recipe for excessive need for validation for many children, adolescents, and adults. I know this from personal experience. The list of psychological, sociological and physiological disorders caused by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) is evidence enough to link childhood trauma with need for validation or acceptance by others.
Childhood Trauma is Invalidation (CHITIN)! It is the biggest crisis of our times because we are cheating children out of their innocent childhood. CHITIN is the rape of innocence.
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