EDUC501 Human Growth and Development

Introduction

Understanding human development helps in understanding one’s own life experiences along with life course. It helps in fostering enhanced self-understanding along with personal growth (Terziev, 2019). Similarly, understanding human development is considered to be essential as it helps in understanding various cognitive, social as well as emotional and psychological developmental issues which can be the result of weak as well as negative childhood development experiences that has been faced by the person which affects his behaviour as well as mental health as an adult and helps in determining their emotions (Osher et al., 2020). Thus, the primary aim of the essay is to analyse as well as understand the various types of developmental stages and the events that has been experienced by me during these stages that has had a direct impact on my adulthood as well as future endeavours.

Discussion

During my early childhood days, I as a child had experienced as well as witnessed abuse first hand where I saw my father committing domestic violence against my siblings as well as my mother. This is the time where I understood the meaning of being sympathetic towards others and practice a behaviour that would help in keeping others safe as well as secure. However, since I witnessed abuse at first hand during my childhood days it is quite evident for others to understand that I went through a troubled childhood where I could not get the love and affection from my parents as a child that led to various types of mental health issues for me as an adult. Bowlby’s attachment theory is one of the significant theories which helps in understanding the importance of their child’s attachment with their parents that helps in regulating their behaviour and emotions (Stroebe, 2019). Bowlby stated that when the child shares a positive bond with their parents and feels secure around their parents then they develop a positive emotion and have a stable mental state as an adult with positive behaviour (Capaldo & Perrella 2018). However, the theorist goes on to state that when a person as a child experiences neglect as well as poor attention from his/her parents then this has a direct impact on the mental as well as psychological state of the child.

When children do not get the love and affection from their parents and experience various types of negative events such as domestic violence and abuse at their homes then it has a negative effect on their cognitive as well as mental development which has a direct impact on their emotions (Berwian et al., 2020). Hence, it can be said that when a child experiences abuse as well as neglect during their children then it leads to disorganized attachment where the child as an adult becomes disoriented as well as confused which leads to various types of conflicting behavioural patterns as an adult and where child as an adult goes through various types of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, stress as well as other types of mental health issues that is experienced as an adult (Majumdar et al., 2017).

Therefore, it is essential to note that this type of mental health issue has been experienced by me during early adulthood when I was pursuing my undergraduate. During this time, I was diagnosed by major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder along with stress triggered seizures and these disorders were being experienced by me as I had suffered from a troubled childhood. Since I, as a child had experienced as well as witnessed abuse at my place therefore this traumatic incident had stayed in my subconscious which as an adult took the shape of depression as well as anxiety where I grew insecure about my social relationship with others that led to depression as well as anxiety. Similarly, as a child I never experienced the care and attachment from my parents which every child deserves as a result of which I isolated myself from every kind of relationship since as a child I could not form a relationship of trust and security with my parents as a result of which even as an adult I had difficulties in trusting others which led to stress and general anxiety (Heard et al., 2018). Hence, it is essential to note that when a child grows up in an abusive as well as neglectful environment their own personal capacity to mentalize might not be able to develop in an effective and efficient manner (Heard et al., 2018). Mentalizing capacity helps in understanding the workings of personal mental states and patients who are depressed exhibit poor mentalizing abilities that might help in controlling situation of rejection and loss. Children who experience emotional abuse are more likely to develop depressive symptoms (Li et al., 2020).

At the same time, it is also essential to note that most of the time childhood trauma can also lead to various types of physical disorders during adulthood that has a direct impact on the mental health conditions as the person as an adult since it leads to issues like frequent mood swings, anxiety as well as stress that might affect their personal as well as social relationships (Noteboom et al., 2021). Hence, it is the responsibility of adults to understand that traumatic experiences during childhood and adolescence are quite significant since during this age the human brain is still in the developing phase and when a traumatic event is experienced at this time then it might lead to irreversible harm emotionally, physically as well as mentally (Müller et al., 2019).

It is essential to note that as an adolescent I found out my love for healthcare and therefore enrolled myself in health clubs and also went on to graduate the high school as a licensed emergency medical technician and I chose biology as my subject for my under-graduation. However, in my early adulthood I was diagnosed with a number of mental health conditions which has been mentioned above and therefore soon changed my subject from biology to psychology so that I could understand the root cause of my mental health conditions that would help me to get appropriate treatment as well as care for myself.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory argues that human behaviour is the result of the interactions amongst there components such as id, ego and superego and conflicts among these three structures helps in determining how we should behave and approach the world. Within the different stages of psychosexual stages there are different conflicts between biological drives as well as social and moral conscience (May, 2018). However, it should be noted that when a child experiences negative events during their childhood then it has a direct impact on the unconscious mind of the child which leads to several types of mental health illnesses (Wertz, 2020). Hence, Freud states that when the child faces emotional neglect during childhood then it leads to social dysfunctioning as an adult. It should be noted that oxytocin as well as attachment systems play a significant mediating role in the interplay between emotional neglect and social dysfunctioning (Wertz, 2020).

Emotional neglect has mostly been linked to alternations in the oxytocin systems. Similarly, it is also essential to note that when emotional neglect is experienced among children then it can also be associated with different types of psychiatric symptoms such as social fear, emotional dysfunctioning as well as depression that affects the mental health of children as adults (Förster et al., 2018). Thus, it can be stated that when negative events are experienced as a child then the event is stored within the subconscious mind of individuals that comes to the surface unknowingly and affects social as well as personal relationship of adults by regulating their behaviour and emotions in a negative manner (Förster et al., 2018).  

Hence from these theories it can easily be said that my experience as a child had led to various types of challenges in meeting the developmental milestones as it affected my ability to socially interact with others in a positive manner that would have helped in enhancing my self-esteem and would have contributed towards my growth and development in a positive manner (Richter et al., 2017). This was reflected during my duration in the graduate school where I stopped seeing the mental health professionals and also stopped taking any kind of medication. For instance, I initially took up the role of teaching but after teaching for a year I realized that I made the wrong choice for myself and once again turned back towards psychology for which I had to once again join my current graduate school along with degree program (Richter et al., 2017).

From the above discussion it is quite evident that my early childhood negative experiences made me less confident on myself as well as my abilities and made me more confused as a result of which this led to more depression as well as stress within me. Therefore, it can be said that negative experiences during childhood made me less confident and more confused which led to several types of wrong decisions which were made by me (Black et al., 2017). Similarly, my negative experiences as well as neglect also affected my later development stages where as an adult I found it quite difficult to maintain effective and efficient relationship with my friends and family and at the same time I was unable to make any type of social relationships and this was easily reflected when I took the profession of becoming a teacher, however, was unsuccessful in connecting positively with the students and contribute towards their growth and development and this happened because my social interaction as a child was weak (Black et al., 2017).

Bowlby’s attachment theory along with sociocultural theory proposed by Vygotsky are the two theories that is mostly aligned with my developmental stages. The attachment theory has already been discussed in the above paragraphs (Daneshfar & Moharami 2018). Similarly, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory goes on to state that children learn actively with the help of first-hand experiences. His theory stated how parents, peers, caregivers as well as culture plays a significant role in developing higher-order functions (Marginson & Dang 2017). In his view, learning is considered to be an inherently social process. Vygotsky mentions that interacting with others, learning becomes integrated into the individual’s understanding of the world (Daneshfar & Moharami 2018). He states that when there is negative social interaction experienced by children during their developmental stages then they do not get the opportunity to develop their social skills which helps them to interact with other individuals in an effective as well as efficient manner (Marginson & Dang 2017). Therefore, positive social interactions for children are quite essential for their cognitive and social development. Consequently, it should be noted that since I experienced negative childhood experiences I could not socially interact with others as an adult which led to various types of mental health disorders.

Hence it should be noted that due to the above mental illnesses it can lead to various types of unhealthy physical behaviour that might have a direct influence in my ageing process. For instance, anxiety as well as depression will make me more introvert that will not allow me to participate in social as well as physical activities which will affect my ability of physical activity that is considered to be one of the lifestyle behaviours that will have a direct impact on the ageing process (Polly et al., 2017). Lack of physical activity during the ageing process leads to various types of physical health conditions that has a direct impact on the mental ability of individuals (Kong et al., 2020). For instance, lack of physical activity will make my body stiff that can lead to the issue of weight gain during old age which lead to issues like increase in cholesterol, obesity and other types of physical health conditions that can lead to frequent visit to the doctors which can be economically exhausting (Kong et al., 2020). This can lead to mental stress as well as depression that might aggravate the problem in old age.

Therefore, I plan to enrol myself in counselling sessions and physical activity programs which will help me to overcome my present issues as well as the issues that I might face during my ageing process.

Conclusion

Thus, to conclude it should be noted that childhood experiences have both positive as well as negative impact on the mental health of children as adults and might lead to various types of mental health disorders. Therefore, it is the responsibility of parents to give full attention and care to their children that will help in their positive growth and development.

References

Berwian, I. M., Wenzel, J. G., Kuehn, L., Schnuerer, I., Kasper, L., Veer, I. M., & Huys, Q. J. (2020). The relationship between resting-state functional connectivity, antidepressant discontinuation and depression relapse. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-10.

Black, M. M., Walker, S. P., Fernald, L. C., Andersen, C. T., DiGirolamo, A. M., Lu, C., ... & Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. (2017). Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. The Lancet, 389(10064), 77-90.

Capaldo, M., & Perrella, R. (2018). Child maltreatment: an attachment theory perspective. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 6(1).

Daneshfar, S., & Moharami, M. (2018). Dynamic assessment in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory: Origins and main concepts. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(3), 600-607.

Förster, K., Jörgens, S., Air, T. M., Bürger, C., Enneking, V., Redlich, R., & Baune, B. T. (2018). The relationship between social cognition and executive function in major depressive disorder in high-functioning adolescents and young adults. Psychiatry research, 263, 139-146.

Heard, D., McCluskey, U., & Lake, B. (2018). Attachment therapy with adolescents and adults: Theory and practice post Bowlby. Routledge.

Kong, J., Martire, L. M., Tate, A. M., Bray, B. C., & Almeida, D. M. (2020). Different Types of Childhood Experience With Mothers and Caregiving Outcomes in Adulthood. Family Relations.

Li, E. T., Carracher, E., & Bird, T. (2020). Linking childhood emotional abuse and adult depressive symptoms: the role of mentalizing incapacity. Child abuse & neglect, 99, 104253.

Majumdar, I. G., Singh, T., Arya, Y. K., Mandal, S. P., & Kumari, S. (2017). Childhood parental emotional maltreatment: A study of its consequences in adulthood. IJHW, 8, 29-34.

Marginson, S., & Dang, T. K. A. (2017). Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory in the context of globalization. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 37(1), 116-129.

May, U. (2018). Freud at Work: On the History of Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice, with an Analysis of Freud's Patient Record Books. Routledge.

Müller, L. E., Bertsch, K., Bülau, K., Herpertz, S. C., & Buchheim, A. (2019). Emotional neglect in childhood shapes social dysfunctioning in adults by influencing the oxytocin and the attachment system: Results from a population-based study. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 136, 73-80.

Noteboom, A., Ten Have, M., de Graaf, R., Beekman, A. T., Penninx, B. W., & Lamers, F. (2021). The long-lasting impact of childhood trauma on adult chronic physical disorders. Journal of psychiatric research, 136, 87-94.

Osher, D., Cantor, P., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2020). Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development1. Applied Developmental Science, 24(1), 6-36.

Polly, D., Allman, B., Casto, A., & Norwood, J. (2017). Sociocultural perspectives of learning. Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology.

Richter, L. M., Daelmans, B., Lombardi, J., Heymann, J., Boo, F. L., Behrman, J. R., ... & Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. (2017). Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood development. The lancet, 389(10064), 103-118.

Stroebe, M. (2019). The Study of Security and Separation: An Unexpected Forerunner of Attachment Theory?. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 0030222819880706.

Terziev, V. (2019). Importance of human resources to social development. International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 4(12), 708-716.

Wertz, A. (2020). Between the concept and the dream: Jean-Bertrand Pontalis and the uses of psychoanalytic theory. Fort Da, 26(1), 31-43.

We provide unmatched quality assignment writing services for all subjects in your curriculum. The most common subjects we cover include Maths, English, Humanities, Social Sciences, Management and more. Our experts have acquired their respective PhDs in specific disciplines from reputed universities. Tell us the subject you need ghostwriters for. We will assign a suitable ghostwriter accordingly. We are not restricted to writing assignments only. We also provide top-notch proofreading services and essay writing services. The essay writers are well-versed in all types of essays such as persuasive, expository, narrative, argumentative, persuasive, etc. Whether you need math homework help or English homework help, we have the right expert for you.