Adolescent trauma results from experiencing or witnessing abuse or violence. Some adolescents can experience damage to brain development as a result. Also, many will develop an addiction to drugs or alcohol in an effort to cope. Emotional responses to traumatic experience are often overwhelming and should include terror, helplessness, and extreme physiological arousal that don't cause purposeful and effective reactions. These emotional responses often coincide, leading the kid to feel overwhelmed, confused, and out of control. Similarly, when a toddler faces repetitive trauma, their brain develops behaviors to survive the high stress and remain alert, and eventually those behaviors alter the brain: the parts controlling fear and anxiety grow to guard the kid , while the parts controlling logical or more critical thinking shrink.