Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Children (PTSD): What you should know?
Updated: Sep 25, 2022
What Is Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
PTSD is a mental and behavioral disorder[6] that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a person's life.[1][7] Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in the way a person thinks and feels, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response.[1][3] These symptoms last for more than a month after the event.[1] Young children are less likely to show distress but instead may express their memories through play.[1] A person with PTSD is at a higher risk of suicide and intentional self-harm.[2][8]
All children may experience very stressful events that affect how they think and feel. Most of the time, children recover quickly and well. However, sometimes children who experience severe stress, such as from an injury, from the death or threatened death of a close family member or friend, or from violence, will be affected long-term. The child could experience this trauma directly or could witness it happening to someone else. 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).
The following information is not intended to provide a medical diagnosis of major PTSD and cannot take the place of seeing a mental health professional. If you think you have PTSD‚ talk with your doctor or a mental health professional immediately. This is especially important if your symptoms are getting worse or affecting your daily activities.
Examples of PTSD Symptoms:
The exact cause of depression is unknown. It may be caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors.2 Everyone is different‚ but the following factors may increase a person’s chances of becoming depressed:1
Reliving the event over and over in thought or in play
Nightmares and sleep problems
Becoming very upset when something causes memories of the event
Lack of positive emotions
Intense ongoing fear or sadness
Irritability and angry outbursts
Constantly looking for possible threats, being easily startled
Acting helpless, hopeless or withdrawn
Denying that the event happened or feeling numb
Avoiding places or people associated with the event
Because children who have experienced traumatic stress may seem restless, fidgety, or have trouble paying attention and staying organized, the symptoms of traumatic stress can be confused with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Read a guide for clinicians on deciding if it is ADHD or child traumatic stress.
Examples of events that could cause PTSD include:
Physical, sexual, or emotional maltreatment
Being a victim or witness to violence or crime
Serious illness or death of a close family member or friend
Natural or manmade disasters
Severe car accidents
What Are the Treatments for PTSD ?
The first step to treatment is to talk with a healthcare provider to arrange an evaluation. For a PTSD diagnosis, a specific event must have triggered the symptoms. Because the event was distressing, children may not want to talk about the event, so a health provider who is highly skilled in talking with children and families may be needed. Once the diagnosis is made, the first step is to make the child feel safe by getting support from parents, friends, and school, and by minimizing the chance of another traumatic event to the extent possible. Psychotherapy in which the child can speak, draw, play, or write about the stressful event can be done with the child, the family, or a group. Behavior therapy, specifically cognitive-behavioral therapy, helps children learn to change thoughts and feelings by first changing behavior in order to reduce the fear or worry. Medication may also be used to decrease symptoms.
Therapy.
Cognitive Processing Therapy.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
Stress Inoculation Training.
Medications.
Prevention of PTSD:
It is not known exactly why some children develop PTSD after experiencing stressful and traumatic events, and others do not. Many factors may play a role, including biology and temperament. But preventing risks for trauma, like maltreatment, violence, or injuries, or lessening the impact of unavoidable disasters on children, can help protect a child from PTSD.
Â
To find out more about PTSD and to determine whether it's right for you, speak with Grace Health Services. Make an appointment right away by calling us at
or book your appointment online :