Shari B. Kaplan, LCSWIntegrative Mental Health

How Childhood Trauma Can Shape Anxiety Later in Life

11 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this clinical commentary, licensed clinical social worker Shari B. Kaplan shares observations from three recent patients who spent their childhoods in active war zones. She explains how chronic exposure to gunfire and restricted outdoor activity can hyper‑activate the limbic system and up‑regulate the central nervous system, creating a physiological basis for later anxiety—even when patients downplay the experience. Kaplan stresses that gathering detailed developmental history—birthplace, timing and nature of moves, and sibling context—provides crucial clues for identifying anxiety rooted in early trauma.

Chapters

In the past year, I have had 3 patients who grew up in war zones and that became their normal. Gunfire flying around outside and they were not allowed outside at certain times of day. That certainly does set you up for having a hyperactive limbic system, even though they'll report to you, "No, it was okay. No problem." I'm like, just because that was what you had didn't mean that your central nervous system didn't upregulate to try to deal deal with what you were in. So that's really helpful information to know where they were born, when they moved, how that move was for them, how many siblings they have. These are all indications that there could be anxiety.