Following is a list of the symptoms of Developmental Trauma Disorder from the amazing Attachment Therapist, Denise Best, who now resides and works in Oregon.
Symptoms of a Child with Developmental Trauma Disorder
Relationships with Others
- Poor eye contact
- Rejects affection from parents (stiff, rigid, pushes away, squirms)
- Acts overly charming to get their way/ Affectionate only on Childs terms
- Indiscriminate affection towards strangers (Disinhibited Type)
- Acts incredibly innocent, even when caught in the act
- Demands things instead of asking for them
- Limited ability to accurately read and appropriately respond to social cues
- Gamey; try to get people in their service, make them mad (like they’re feeling)
- Difficulty developing emotionally reciprocal relationships
- Difficulty being able to trust adults/parents to meet their needs
- Difficulty respecting authority figures, and adults in general
Mood & Biological Regulation
- Temper tantrums lasting up to 2 hours, can argue for long periods of time
- Difficulty sustaining or regaining (age appropriate) emotional regulation
- Nonstop chattering or asking questions they know the answers for
- Extremely high anxiety, therefore a need to control others & environment
- Impulsive, hyperactive, inattentive, but
- Can also be hypervigilant/attentive to all sounds & movement around them
- High pain tolerance and/or refuses to let anyone help or comfort
- Daredevil, risk-taking behaviors and/or accident prone
- Food issues: hoards, sneaks, gorges or eats very slowly
- Under high stress default to “Fight, Flight, or Freeze” states, dissociates
Behavioral
- Deliberately breaks things – then doesn’t’ appear to miss them
- Steals – often things would’ve been given permission for
- False allegations of abuse/maltreatment
- Do “Paybacks” (revenge) for perceived wrongs/ not getting their way
- Sneaks things – even when would’ve received permission had they asked
- Lies – crazy made up stories, to get out of trouble, get others in trouble
- In more severe cases, lack of remorse or lack of capacity to experience victim
empathy: harmful to animals and smaller children, sexual obsession
and/or predatory behavior, preoccupation with fire and gore
Mental
- Doesn’t appear to be able to learn from mistakes (poor cause & effect)
- Behavior typically good at school, but poor academic effort/progress
- Intellectual, Emotional, and Physical Developmental Delays (often 2-4 years)
- Learning Disorders: Receptive & Expressive Language Processing problems
- Mental Health Disorders: Depression, Anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or
- Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (without facial features)
Self Concept
- Feel alone, sad, worthless, and unlovable
- Filled with shame and a deep sense of “not belonging”