People who grew up translating adult emotions as children now read every room they walk into - Silicon Canals

"Children raised in emotionally volatile or unpredictable homes develop what psychologists call hypervigilance. The clinical term sounds sterile, almost mechanical. The lived experience is anything but. It means a nine-year-old learning to distinguish between their mother's "I'm fine" that actually means fine and the "I'm fine" that means the next four hours will be a minefield."

"Dr. Jonice Webb, whose work on childhood emotional neglect has shaped how we understand these patterns, describes how children in these environments become exquisitely attuned to the emotional states of the adults around them. They have to. Their safety depends on it. The child's nervous system essentially decides: if I can predict what's coming, I can protect myself."

"The curriculum includes lessons like: how to tell from the angle of someone's jaw whether they're about to cry or scream. How to notice when a room's temperature shifts because two adults just made eye contact. How to become very, very small when the energy gets too big. These are survival skills."

Children raised in unpredictable or emotionally volatile environments develop hypervigilance—an acute sensitivity to emotional cues and environmental shifts. From early childhood, these individuals learn to interpret subtle signals like footsteps, tone of voice, and facial expressions to anticipate danger and protect themselves. This heightened emotional attunement becomes a survival skill, allowing them to distinguish between genuine and false reassurances, detect shifts in room dynamics, and respond appropriately to adult moods. Psychologist Dr. Jonice Webb's research on childhood emotional neglect explains how children's nervous systems prioritize prediction and protection. These finely-tuned skills develop early and persist into adulthood, shaping how these individuals navigate social interactions, relationships, and professional environments throughout their lives.

Read at Silicon Canals