All children may experience events that affect the way they think and feel. Most of the time children recover quickly and well. Sometimes children who experience severe stress (eg injury, death, death threat to a family member or close friend, or violence) are affected. In the long term, where the child may experience this trauma directly or witness it happening to someone else, when children develop long-term symptoms (longer than 1 month) of this stress that disturb or interfere with their relationships and activities they may be diagnosed with PTSD.
Reasons for PTSD:
- Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
- Being a victim or witness to violence or crime.
- Serious illness or death of a family member or close friend.
- Natural or man-made disasters.
- Severe car accidents.
Symptoms:
- Reliving the event repeatedly in thought or play.
- Insomnia, nightmares, and sleep problems.
- Feeling very distressed when something triggers memories of the event.
- Lack of positive emotions.
- Intense and persistent fear or sadness.
- Irritability and tantrums.
- Denying the occurrence of the event or feeling numb.
- Avoid places or people associated with the event.
- Poor focus.
- Constant monitoring of the risk occurrence.
When to see a doctor:
If the child is still having problems about 4 weeks after the traumatic experience, or if the symptoms are particularly bothersome.
Treatment:
The first step to treatment is to speak with a specialist to arrange an evaluation and diagnosis of PTSD. A specific event must have triggered the symptoms. Children may not want to talk about the event. The first step is to make the child feel safe by getting support from parents and friends. School and reduce the chance of another traumatic event as much as possible. Psychotherapy, in which the child can talk, draw, play, or write about the stressful event can be done with the child, family, or group. Behavioral therapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy, helps children learn to change Thoughts and feelings by first changing behavior to reduce fear or anxiety. Medicines can also be used to reduce symptoms.
