Maternal - Maltreatment Facialabuse
Elara learned to stand perfectly still. To breathe shallowly. To become a mannequin while her mother investigated each flaw, each “mistake” that supposedly announced Elara’s existence to a world Lena wanted to hide from.
Several factors can increase the risk of maternal maltreatment or the transmission of MCM effects.
That night, she tried. She sat on her bedroom floor, mirror in her lap, and forced herself to look. The face that stared back was not ugly—she knew that logically. But it felt illegal , like a stolen object. She saw her mother’s fingerprints ghosting over every contour. She saw the places that had been criticized, corrected, condemned. maternal maltreatment facialabuse
Repeated verbal humiliation focused on the child's facial appearance or emotional expressions.
Serious indicators include facial bone fractures , eye injuries, intraoral lacerations (such as a torn upper lip frenulum), and dental trauma. Elara learned to stand perfectly still
In addition to effects on maternal mood and the parent–child relationship, which each themselves may exert joint and independent e... Wiley Impact of maternal childhood trauma on child behavioral ... However, a recent study by Moog et al. (2018) demonstrated that effects of maternal childhood trauma already exist in newborns and... National Institutes of Health (.gov) Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect Findings. Parental verbal abuse, witnessing domestic violence and sexual abuse appear to specifically target brain regions (audito... PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov) Oral and dental signs of child abuse and neglect - PMC Several studies in the literature have shown that oral or facial trauma occurs in about 50% of physically abused children; the ora... PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov) Skin manifestations of child abuse Cutaneous Signs of Physical Abuse. Up to 90% of victims of physical abuse present with skin findings. , Cutaneous manifestations o... Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology Orofacial manifestations of child abuse and neglect - PubMed Abstract. About one-half of all child abuse cases involve some form of orofacial injury. Common signs of physical abuse include fr... National Institutes of Health (.gov) signs and symptoms of child abuse - Procedures Online bruising in a non-mobile child, in the absence of an adequate. explanation. bruises other than at the common sites of accidental i... Procedures Online Evaluation of the Orofacial Features in the Victims of Abuse and ... Nov 10, 2021 —
Children who experience maltreatment often develop a "response bias" toward negative emotions. They may become hyper-sensitive to angry facial expressions, recognizing them with fewer cues than non-maltreated children. This adaptation is a form of —the child's brain becomes highly attuned to environmental threats to survive. Common behavioral outcomes include: Several factors can increase the risk of maternal
Lena never mentioned it. But she stopped touching Elara’s face. And Elara, for the first time, turned her mirror toward the room—not to admire herself, but to keep watch. To remember that the crime scene had been closed. That she was not a reconstruction.
Maternal maltreatment in this context encompasses several types of harm:
She was the artist now.
If you or someone you know is experiencing maternal maltreatment or abuse, there are resources available to help. These include:
