Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children

Most parents dream of creating lasting memories of happiness in their child's life. These memories include; time spent as a family on vacations, at the park, or just sitting around doing silly things together at home. Unexpected events like natural disasters, divorce, death, or even automobile accidents can be very traumatic for children and leave behind deep mental scares or trauma called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a prolonged reaction or problems after a traumatic event. The disorder used to be something that was only associated with war victims or soldiers, however, now it is known to occur in children who have been involved in car accidents, witnessed violence in their homes, have been victims of sexual abuse, or school violence. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can even occur as the result of a natural disaster such as a tsunami or hurricanes and tornados.

Post Traumatic Disorder occurs when someone has a problem dealing with trauma. Trauma is a normal reaction to an emotionally painful, shocking, or distressful event (Ianellli, p.3). Normally, after a traumatic event, a person will create memories about the event that are stored deep within the structures of the brain. Under normal circumstances a person will go through a process of dealing with the trauma and should be ready to go back to their normal routine of life within a week or two. However, in the case of a person with Post Traumatic Disorder, months or years will pass after the traumatic event and he/she will still be experiencing problems such as flashbacks, avoidance, increased sleep disturbances, irritability, poor concentration, regressive behavior, and emotional numbing (Ianelli, p. 4).

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was first seen in war veterans. During the Civil War, soldiers who suffered emotional problems were diagnosed as being afflicted with soldier's heart or Da Costa's Syndrome-a condition that shares many symptoms like PTSD (Wikipedia, p. 6). During World War I, Shell shock was a term used to describe the condition of veterans who seemed emotionally disturbed by the battleground atmosphere (Wikipedia, p.6). In World War II, these symptoms were classified as battle fatigue or combat fatigue (Wikipedia, p.6). An example of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

A recent catastrophic occurrence was Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster that devastated the city of New Orleans, Louisiana and several other cities in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. As many people watched on the news, they could imagine what it might be like to be in the water filled city as bodies of the elderly and children floated by in the water. It was a sad scenario, as many families were separated and some children did not even know where their own mother and father were-if they were alive at all.

After such an event, it is normal for a child to deal with trauma. It is normal for the child to have a sense of terror after the catastrophe, to feel enormous sadness, to feel vulnerable, outraged, helpless, and relief or guilt about surviving when others didn't (American Group Psychotherapy Association, p, 3). In addition the child may become very anxious and have difficulty sleeping, or may act as if nothing is wrong and become socially withdrawn (American Group Psychotherapy Association, p. 4).

While dealing with the trauma, a child will go through a grieving process. Grief is a normal process that allows the mind and body to heal after a loss or traumatic experience (American Group Psychotherapy Association, p. 4). Following the traumatic event, many things can happen that will "trigger" intense recollections of the event. These recollections can bring about sudden emotional reactions. To totally heal from a traumatic event, a child must go through the entire process of grieving and experiencing triggers in order to be healed.

An abnormal or prolonged reaction to a trauma is what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Studies show that some people are more at risk to suffer from the disorder than others (American Group Psychotherapy Association, p. 5). For example, a child would be more likely to suffer from the disorder if they were directly involved in the trauma, did not have a support system, or had a history of trauma or emotional illness (American Group Psychotherapy Association, p.5). In children it is sometimes hard to diagnose Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is because some children have a hard time talking about and accepting their feelings, or even asking for help (American Group Psychotherapy Association, p.6). One reason that children may not talk about their feelings is because the child may feel embarrassed about the event or do not want to talk about it for fear that they may upset an adult by bringing up memories of the event.

Short Term and Long Term Effects

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has both short and long term effects. Short-term effects are seen when a person re-experiences the trauma. Most of the short-term effects are physical and include; headaches, stomach upset, chest pain, breathing difficulties, giddiness (Stressfocus.com, p. 13). Long-term effects are seen even when a person is not re-experiencing the trauma. Long term effects are memory disturbances, alteration in the response to fear, depression, sleeplessness, anxiety disorders like phobias, poor self esteem, substance abuse, anti social behavior (Stressfocus.com, p. 14).

Prevention

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be prevented in children through planning. For example, schools can make plans for dealing with situations that might cause trauma in students; like school violence, natural disasters, or bombings. If school officials have proper training, they can learn to control the situation in such a way that it does not have as much impact on the children, and if there is an impact it can promptly dealt with through counseling or therapy (Campbell, p. 14). Individual and family counseling session in which a family develops a crisis plan is also another method of prevention (Campbell, p. 13). In the development of a crisis plan, a family imagines the worst things that could possibly go wrong with them and then makes a plan on what they would do if that situation were to arise. This type of planning helps the family to know what to do and makes things less traumatic for children (Campbell, p. 14).

Treatment

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has a very strong affect on the brain and treatment takes longer than most types of anxiety disorders. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be treated using several methods. One method that is used is called Psychotherapy. Psychotherapy can occur in individual or group settings. It is a technique that utilizes relaxation techniques such as; deep breathing, muscle relaxation, positive imagery, meditation, and prayer. While this form of treatment has been known to be helpful to victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, there have been documented instances were it was counterproductive and actually triggered symptoms rather than relieving them (Campbell, p. 7).

Another form of treatment is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy involves exploring a person's personal history and history of the event. This type of therapy helps a child to learn to recognize and manage their triggering episodes.

Medications can be used to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well and are used frequently along with psychotherapy (Campbell, p. 17). Drugs, such as anti-anxiety medication help to calm and stabilize mood until the person learns to do so on their own.

A new form of treatment is called Somatic experiencing. It is a therapy developed by Peter Levine that incorporates observations of how animals treat themselves following traumatic events and focuses on restoring normality to the stress response (Campbell, p. 19). According to Levine, the symptoms of trauma result from highly activated incomplete biological response to threat. Wild animals have the ability to "shake off" this excess energy (Campbell, p.19). Many believe that if this form of treatment can help enable humans to do the same, then the trauma can be healed.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can affect adults and children. It is an illness that is the result of a prolonged response to trauma. Though mostly seen in war veterans, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is becoming a common illness for children in America and throughout the world. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be treated, but more proper treatment is prevention---prevention by preparing families of what to do during traumatic events. Attempting to shield children from unnecessary sexual and physical abuse also prevent it.

References:

American Group Psychotherapy Association. (2006). "What Every Person Should Know About Trauma". Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://www.agpa.org/events/traumahandout.pdf

Campbell, Krisitina. (2001). "One Year Later: Post-Traumatic Stress Takes Toll on Children". Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://www.cfah.org/factsoflife/vol7no9.cfm

Cook-Cottone, Catherine. (2004). Childhood Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Diagnose, Treat, and School Intergration. National Associations of School Psychologists. Volume33. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://galenet.galegroup.com.dewey.phoenixpubliclibrary.org:2048/servlet/HWRC/hits?docNum=A116218377&year2=&year1=&aci=flag&aii=flag&tcit=0_1_0_0_0&locID=phoenixpl&rlt=2&origSearch=true&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&o=&secondary=false&n=10&day2=&l=d&day1=&month2=&sgPhrase=true&month1=&c=6&bucket=per&SU=childhood+post+traumatic+stress+disorder

Ianelli, Vincent. (2007). "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". Retrieved January 27, 2007 from http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/mentalhealth/l/bl_ptsd_kids.htm

Reiff, Michael. (2002). "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics . Volume 23. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://galenet.galegroup.com.dewey.phoenixpubliclibrary.org:2048/servlet/HWRC/hits?docNum=A90984116&year2=&year1=&aci=flag&aii=flag&tcit=0_1_0_0_0&locID=phoenixpl&rlt=2&origSearch=false&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&secondary=false&o=&n=10&day2=&l=d&day1=&sgPhrase=true&month2=&month1=&c=14&bucket=per&SU=childhood+post+traumatic+stress+disorder

Stressfocus.com. (2006). "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Has the Past Come Back to Haunt You?". Retrieved January 28, 2007 from http://www.stressfocus.com/stress_focus_article/post-traumatic-stress.htm

Swick, Susan. (2002). "Children of September 11^th: a perspective on the emotional and development challenges they face and how to help meet them". Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Volume 23. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://galenet.galegroup.com.dewey.phoenixpubliclibrary.org:2048/servlet/HWRC/hits?docNum=A93610081&year2=&year1=&aci=flag&aii=flag&tcit=0_1_0_0_0&locID=phoenixpl&rlt=2&origSearch=true&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&secondary=false&o=&n=10&day2=&l=d&day1=&sgPhrase=true&month2=&month1=&c=9&bucket=per&SU=childhood+post+traumatic+stress+disorder

Wikipedia. (2007). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Retrieved January 28, 2007 from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder