When children develop long term symptoms (longer than one month) from such stress, which are upsetting or interfere with their relationships and activities, they may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A child psychiatrist or mental health expert can diagnose PTSD. He or she will do a mental health evaluation.
If your child has experienced a traumatic event, you should call your doctor when: Your child's behavior alarms friends, family members, or even teachers. They start showing extreme depression, anxiety, fear, or anger toward themself and other people.
PTSD is common in patients with a history of childhood trauma. However, when trauma occurs in childhood, the flashbacks may well be experienced as a flood of emotion, disconnected from the narrative in which the trauma originally arose.
PTSD can occur at any age, including childhood, and may be accompanied by: Depression. Substance abuse. Anxiety.
Slower and Damaged Cognitive Development
Children experiencing PTSD will have stunted brain development when compared to a normal child. This causes them to have slower capability to learn, lower general IQ, memory problems, damaged social and emotional responses, and a defensive personality.
Most unresolved childhood trauma affects self-esteem and creates anxiety. Did you suffer a serious childhood illness? If so, you were likely isolated at home or hospitalized. This meant being removed from normal social activities and you probably felt lonely, maybe even worried about being different.
After a traumatic event, children can experience both emotional and physical responses. Emotional responses include feelings of fear, helplessness, or being trapped. Physical responses include pounding heart, vomiting, or losing control of the bladder or bowels. Both types of responses can easily overwhelm a child.
Such a child may seem “spacey”, detached, distant, or out of touch with reality. Complexly traumatized children are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, such as self-harm, unsafe sexual practices, and excessive risk-taking such as operating a vehicle at high speeds.
Kids exposed to trauma may mentally re-experience traumatic events, and that can make kids look spacey and distracted, like kids with the inattentive type of ADHD. “If you're having intrusive thoughts about a traumatic event you've been through, you're not attending to the present moment,” notes Dr. Howard.
The chronic anxiety that comes from having a child with a mental health or behavioral diagnosis can trigger symptoms of PTSD in parents and caregivers. A related and newly researched condition called Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) is becoming more widely recognized by doctors and specialists as well.
Some research shows that children of Veterans with PTSD are more likely to have problems with behaviors and school and problems getting along with others. Their parents see them as more sad, anxious, aggressive, and hyper than children of Veterans who do not have PTSD.
Adults who experienced traumatic events as children may have recurring nightmares, flashbacks, or may feel a constant state of danger, characteristics of PTSD. Adults with a history of childhood trauma may struggle to establish and maintain healthy relationships due to trust issues and fear of being hurt.
This condition can develop after you experience or witness a traumatic event, such as war, a serious accident, or the death of a close family member. PTSD can affect people at any age, but for some, the symptoms get worse later in life.
PTSD doesn't usually go away on its own. Getting treatment and help can make all the difference. Mental health providers (like psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health counselors) have the experience to work with patients with PTSD.
Sadness: If you notice that you or a loved one is feeling down much more often, it may be a sign that they're coping with a traumatic event. Losing interest in normal activities: A child may lose interest in things they once enjoyed.
A study of young adults found that childhood trauma was significantly correlated with elevated psychological distress, increased sleep disturbances, reduced emotional well-being, and lower perceived social support.
A feeling of shame; an innate feeling that they are bad, worthless, or without importance. Suffering from chronic or ongoing depression. Practicing avoidance of people, places, or things that may be related to the traumatic event; this also can include an avoidance of unpleasant emotions.
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.
Women with PTSD may be more likely than men with PTSD to: Be easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions or feel numb. Avoid things that remind them of the trauma.