“Music can heal the wounds which medicine cannot touch.” – Debasish Mridha
The Impact of Trauma Upon Our Lives – Healing Childhood Trauma in Adulthood
1] How Artists Can Turn Childhood Pain into Creativity – https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_artists_can_turn_childhood_pain_into_creativity
Some performers are able to transform childhood trauma into intense creativity, suggests a new study.
Whether their success was in spite of, or because of, their psychological wounds is an open question. But new research reports artists who had particularly difficult childhoods are more likely to fully immerse themselves in the creative process—a practice that can lead to artistic breakthroughs.
A study of 234 performing-arts professionals found those who experienced intense childhood trauma—about 18 percent of the participants—reported higher levels of anxiety and internalized shame. But “they were also more fantasy prone, a factor that may enhance creativity,” write Paula Thomson and S.V. Jaque of of California State University–Northridge.
2] Scientists Have Found a Strong Link Between a Terrible Childhood And Being Intensely Creative – https://www.sciencealert.com/childhood-adversity-linked-to-intense-creative-process
The study found that, compared to the original Adverse Childhood Experiences study conducted back in 1998 on 9,508 adults, performing artists as a group reported a higher level of childhood emotional abuse and neglect.
The participants were able to be categorised into three groups: those who reported a high level of childhood adversity; those who had experienced a lower or medium level; and those who had experienced little to none.
It’s the high-level group that demonstrated the greater extremes. These performing artists had much higher anxiety, much more internalized shame, and reported more cumulative past traumatic events. They were also more prone to fantasies.
“Listening to music has a positive impact on our health, by helping us recover faster when we experience stress and through the reduction of stress hormone cortisol, to help us achieve a calm state or homeostasis.” – Alex Doman
3] 12 Musicians Who Had Absolutely Tragic Childhoods…And lived to sing the tale. – VH1 News – https://www.vh1.com/news/18xlsx/musicians-tragic-childhoods
Many artists come from difficult backgrounds: physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, freak accidents, illnesses, among other trials and tribulations. We’ve assembled 12 such musicians who rose up from the lowest of lows in their youth to create the music in adulthood that we all know and love.
4] 10 Ways to Heal From Trauma – https://www.verywellmind.com/10-ways-to-heal-from-trauma-5206940
5] Using Creative Expression To Heal Trauma @ Delamere – https://delamere.com/blog/using-creative-expression-to-heal-trauma
6] Writing Can Help Us Heal from Trauma – Harvard Business Review- https://hbr.org/2021/07/writing-can-help-us-heal-from-trauma
“The arts empower. The arts give a voice to the voiceless. The arts help transform American communities and, as I often say, the result can be a better child, a better town, a better nation and certainly a better world. Let’s champion our arts action heroes, emulate them and make our communities everything we want them to be.” – Robert L. Lynch
7] Association of childhood physical and sexual abuse with arthritis in adulthood: Findings from a population-based study – PubMed – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34258175/
“The findings of this study add to the burgeoning number of studies demonstrating the adverse impact of childhood physical and sexual abuse on chronic health outcomes among adults.”
8] Childhood Maltreatment as a Risk Factor for Arthritis: Findings From a Population-Based Survey of Canadian Adults – PubMed – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30328298/
Conclusion: We found that the greater the frequency and severity of childhood maltreatment, the greater the magnitude of association with arthritis. This might reflect the role of the enduring immune and metabolic abnormalities and chronic inflammation associated with childhood maltreatment in the etiopathogensis of osteoarthritis (OA) or be an indicator of the role of joint injury in causing OA.
9]Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect – https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/long_term_consequences.pdf
Diabetes
Lung Disease
Malnutrition
Vision problems
Functional limitations (i.e., being limited in activities)
Heart attack/Heart disease
Arthritis
Back problems
High blood pressure
Brain damage
Migraine headaches
Chronic bronchitis/emphysema/chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease
Cancer
Stroke
Bowel disease
Chronic fatigue syndrome
10] 7 Ways to Self-Motivate, Boost Creativity and Get Energy Back – Happy Mom Life Lab – https://happymomlifelab.com/7-ways-to-get-out-of-a-rut-when-your-creative-energy-is-blocked/
11] 8 Ways We Block Our Creativity and Keep Ourselves Stuck – https://tinybuddha.com/blog/8-ways-we-block-our-creativity-and-keep-ourselves-stuck/
12] Cici Artemesia – Artist & Musician – “Art and music have been my sanity and salvation all my life.” – https://www.ciciart.com/
“The medical profession has come a long way in recognizing the healing benefits of art. My hope is that someday the arts will be considered as significant in everyone’s lives as breathing fresh air, eating clean foods, and performing physical exercise.” – Renee Phillips
