From Top Ten List: Adopting an Abused Child...

10. Puberty can trigger very painful emotions for an abused child.

If you adopt a child who was abused, be prepared for puberty to dredge up painful emotions. I don’t know why this happens. Perhaps it ties into the hormones that the body has surging through it. For sexual abuse survivors, perhaps puberty drives home the full impact of what was done to the body. Regardless of why, it is very common for abuse survivors to have a particularly difficult time getting through puberty.

Puberty can kick off a myriad of behaviors in an abuse survivor. Some of the behaviors and feelings that can be triggered during puberty include…

• Anxiety


• Depression


• Drug & alcohol experimentation


• Eating disorders


• Promiscuity


• Self-injury


• Suicidal feelings

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As an adolescent, I was a straight-A student. I was a compliant child who did not give adults any problems. From the outside, I looked like I was doing well. However, I battled suicidal urges throughout middle school and high school. I even wrote a term paper on teen suicide in high school to help me understand myself. Fortunately, I did not give in to the urges, but there are many teenagers who do succumb. Suicidal urges are not a “death wish.” Suicidal people are in so much emotional pain that they are willing to do ANYTHING, even die, to make the pain stop.

I strongly suggest that any child who has been abused get into therapy when puberty approaches. That way, the child will have someone safe to talk to about the feelings that are dredged up during this time in his life. Even if a child was in therapy at a younger age, it is a good idea to reconnect with the therapist, even if it is only on a monthly basis, so that the child can work through any issues that arise. This is particularly important for children who were sexually abused.

Related Topics:

• Top Ten List: Adopting an Abused Child


• Assessing Health Risks: PTSD; RAD


• Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder


• A Totally Awesome Article on Traumatized Children