Child neglect is a form of childhood abuse that doesn’t leave visible bruises—but it can often leave emotional scars that follow survivors into adulthood. Survivors of child neglect engage early on in a serious struggle for survival, often because their primary caregivers cannot provide for the child’s most basic physical or emotional needs. This can often lead to drug or alcohol abuse, in order to cope with the negative ramifications that these early experience have caused. In fact, because of its silent nature, child neglect often goes unnoticed during childhood—and sometimes, even unrecognized as survivors of child neglect reach adulthood.

Common Signs of Child Neglect in Young Children

As you begin your journey towards healing, you may find that your alcohol or drug addiction has its roots in experiences of childhood neglect. With the help of a professional rehab facility’s therapists, you can begin to own and heal your experiences and learn to provide for yourself what your parents did not or could not.

Here are some of the most common signs of child neglect in young children. By learning to recognize these signs of child neglect, you can become better able to identify children in need of help—and to come to terms with child neglect you may have experienced during childhood.

• Failure to Thrive
  From infancy, children need affection, protection and guidance. In cases of child neglect, babies often become slower to develop, and encounter academic and social difficulties down the road. Additionally, young children who experience child neglect are often physically thin, short, or small for their age due to nutritional and caregiving deficiencies.
• Learning Problems
  Because basic needs are not getting met in instances of child neglect, children may experience difficulties in school. Concentration, learning and memory functions can become impaired, as children experience the psychological stress of neglect as well as the secondary stress of abandonment or lack of physical care.
• Hygiene Issues
  When we are young, our hygiene falls into our parents’ area of responsibility, and when they become neglectful, our health suffers. Rotting teeth, bad breath, body odor, and dirty clothes can sometimes indicate serious cases of child neglect.
• Emotional Difficulties
  Behind the experience of child neglect lies feelings of deep rejection and fear of abandonment. Children who are neglected often experience low self-esteem, depression, and high amounts of anxiety. They may also have difficulty interacting with their peers, out of fear and withdrawal.
• Basic Needs Unmet
  Because parents are not providing for physical needs of the child, many survivors of child neglect experience persistent hunger, some even scavenging for food or attempting to provide for other siblings—or even their parents themselves. Many young survivors of child neglect also experience high levels of exhaustion, as their home atmosphere may not be conducive to sleep, or their daily responsibilities may be draining.
• Other Forms of Abuse and Trauma
  When children are neglected, they often are not adequately protected. As a result, hidden abuse such as physical, sexual or verbal abuse may be taking a toll on neglected children, unrecognized or unconfronted by the parents. These forms of child abuse can leave lasting scars, even more hurtful because of the belief that parents “allowed” the abuse to happen.