 Did something happen to you when you were younger that still takes a toll on your mental health today? Adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACEs, are defined as traumatic events that occur during childhood that have a lasting negative impact on your emotional well-being as you grow up. These events include abuse, neglect, and other kinds of childhood trauma such as serious illness, injury, bullying, peer victimization, and so on. And even years after we've grown up, ACEs can still continue to have a negative impact on our mental health and emotional well-being. So it's important that we recognize the signs of lingering childhood trauma that hold us back from being happy and accomplishing all that we want to achieve. In this video, we're going to talk about eight signs that you may still be battling against some unresolved childhood trauma. Before we begin, we would like to mention that this video is created for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute a professional diagnosis. If you suspect you experienced post-traumatic stress disorder or any mental health condition, we highly advise you to seek help from a qualified mental health professional. Number one, you're burdened with guilt. Your early childhood experiences have a way of shaping the way you view yourself and the world around you. So if you've had any traumatic experiences when you were younger, such as abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, it can warp your judgment and negatively impact your mental and emotional well-being. Your unresolved trauma may manifest itself into unexplained and unreasonable feelings of intense guilt, shame, and regret. Number two, you feel anxious for no reason. Do you feel anxious all the time but don't know why? Are you agitated and restless? Do you often experience an elevated heart rate, profuse sweating, muscle tension, or shakiness? These are all common symptoms of anxiety, but it's usually triggered by a specific stimulus or situation. If you have no idea where all your anxiety is coming from, it may be stemming from the emotional trauma you've been repressing for so long. Number three, you're emotionally distant. Have you been guarded or cautious about who you led into your life after being hurt by someone you loved? While others learn to let go of their heartbreaks and try again, people who suffer extreme tragedies or emotional pain find it easier to distance themselves than deal with the trauma. You may be hesitant to be vulnerable with anyone or to form intimate, meaningful relationships with others. Number four, you struggle to be happy. Do you struggle to see the good things in life? You may have had a hard time letting go of your past and moving forward because of your traumatic experiences. You resist positive change and fall into the trap of denial, negativity, and self-sabotage. After all, happiness can feel scary and unfamiliar to someone who suffered so much. Number five, you struggle with self-loving. For many people, self-love and self-compassion don't come easily, but it can be especially hard for those who experience trauma at a young age. Your past experiences may have taught you that you don't deserve happiness, and so you listen to your own negativity and sabotage your chances at success. The consistency in hurt is what makes it so comforting and so hard to let go of. Number six, you tear yourself down. Did you grow up in a toxic home environment? Do you blame yourself for everything that goes wrong in your life, even if you had no control over it? An effect of childhood trauma is how it negatively affects your self-esteem. Victims of adverse childhood experiences tend to have a lot of problematic, self-defeating thoughts and behaviors. You may be extremely harsh and critical of yourself or often feel worthless and inadequate. Number seven, you can't control your emotions. Do you often feel overwhelmed by the intensity of your feelings? Do you take out your anger and frustration on those around you? Difficulty controlling your emotions and having a low stress tolerance are both clear signs that you may be struggling with some lingering psychological trauma. As a result, you may be more defensive, quick to get upset, and you lose your temper a lot. And number eight, you gravitate towards the wrong people. Do you have a tendency of falling into unhealthy relationships with people who are bad for you? Your dynamic with your parents are templates for all of your future relationships. They teach you what love looks like and how you should be treated by others. No matter how awful they may have been, it's simply human to want to recreate your early childhood experiences because it feels familiar and makes sense to you. So do you relate to any of the signs mentioned here? If so, how do you plan to work through your trauma and move on from the pain you've suffered in the past? Let us know in the comments below. Don't forget to like this video and share it with someone who might also benefit from it. If you enjoyed our content, be sure to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell icon to get notified whenever we post more videos. And as always, thanks so much for watching. We'll see you soon.