5 Ways Adults Behave if They Were Unloved as Children

Children don’t need just water, food, and shelter. They also need cognitive and emotional support, love, and nurturing, and they need it every day. That’s why parents and caregivers should try to express their love and affection for them daily.

The fastest rate at which our brain forms complex network connections is during early and middle childhood. The forming of our brain’s neurons is 80 percent complete by the time we are four.

Many scientists believe that 95% of our behavior is dictated by our subconscious. And, this subconscious programming happens from birth to age six. But, why does this matter?

Our brain determines the way we think, speak, and do. So, a child who’s been inadequately nurtured will have their brain’s development affected. As a result, their emotional networks are not completely developed.

The link between the brain’s developmental traits during childhood and personality traits is universal and indisputable.

According to psychologist Peg Streep, experiences during childhood contribute to shaping one’s personality and behaviors.

Here are a few traits or behaviors of adult people who were unloved or neglected as children.

1. Trust Issues

The external environment has a huge impact on one’s sense of trust. Growing up around stable people helps you feel safe and emotionally fulfilled.

On the contrary, children who are raised without a nurturing and stable environment could end up having trust issues. This, in turn, could make every type of relationship in their life difficult.

2. Poor Emotional Intelligence

Children show their emotions primarily through words and gestures. In that way, they express their feelings, understand negative emotions, manage fears, and develop resilience. But, if they are not able to show their emotional state, children might never develop proper emotional intelligence.

3. Afraid of Failure

Children who are neglected might never develop a proper sense of self-worth. Those who grow up in a loving and stimulating environment, on the other hand, can develop a healthy sense of fortitude and confidence.

Unloved or neglected children usually have low self-esteem which is manifested as a fear of failure. They could be highly intelligent and still not live up to their potential just because they were neglected as children.

4. Insecure

If children can’t rely on their parents or caregivers, they’ll find it hard to rely on anyone. That’s why these children often feel insecure. Also, many of them can get emotionally attached too soon. They pull people towards them and are afraid of losing them.

5. Oversensitive

People who were raised in an unloving home tend to take things personally. They grew up feeling unloved and insignificant, so now they are afraid of rejection. Other people may say they are too sensitive, but that only makes them even more fragile.

Conclusion

The way parents and caregivers behave and act every day affects their child’s emotional well-being.

That’s why they should show their love to their children every day, praise them when deserved, be patient and calm to create a peaceful nurturing environment, and help and encourage them when needed.