Is Your Child Dealing With
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Are you caring for your son or daughter with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder?
This experience can be stressful, overwhelming and isolating, especially if you do not know how to properly care for your child suffering from mental health challenges. But you do not have to go through it alone.
HelpingMinds provides the following information to help you understand what your son or daughter is going through and how you can look after yourself as you care for someone experiencing mental health challenges such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that affects the mental state and the behaviour of a person when triggered by a traumatic experience. This mental health challenge is caused by experiencing or witnessing something traumatic such as death, accident or serious sexual assault. PTSD is the response or reaction of the brain after experiencing fear and danger caused by these horrible situations. This reaction which manifests from as early as 3 months after the experience, to years or decades after the event, is also the brain’s way of protecting the individual from recalling the terrifying experience that it had witnessed.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is also associated with other mental health conditions such as Anxiety, Depression and Psychosis because an individual experiencing severe and chronic PTSD may exhibit symptoms of these mental health conditions, especially after recalling a traumatic episode. Symptoms of PTSD can be temporary and can be treated effectively with medications and therapy. Some conditions can be long-term but are manageable with proper treatment.
Symptoms of a Child with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD usually occurs within 3 months of experiencing or witnessing the traumatic event. Sometimes, the symptoms can start several years after – when you are faced with something that you associate with the traumatic experience. The symptoms range from moderate to serious conditions that can affect people of all ages differently. Children that are often exposed to traumatic experiences growing up may tend to develop PTSD that they’ll carry for a long time.
These can be classified into Re-experiencing Symptoms, Avoidance Symptoms, Arousal & Reactivity Symptoms and Cognition & Mood Symptoms.
- Re-experiencing – Usually triggered by thoughts and emotions, flashbacks, bad dreams and frightening thoughts that relive the traumatic experience. During these periods, the individual can also experience sweating, heart racing, palpitations and other physical symptoms.
- Avoidance – Individuals with symptoms of PTSD would always try to avoid going back to the place where the traumatic experience happened. This also includes staying away from anything that may associate thoughts and feelings with that event.
- Arousal and Reactivity – Always feeling on edge such as quickly getting startled, shocked or scared, finding it hard to sleep and experiencing sudden outbursts are signs of PTSD that prevent the individual from feeling calm and focused as they live their daily lives.
- Cognition and Mood – Feeling depressed and unmotivated along with blaming themselves and hating the world are some signs of PTSD. This also includes a loss of interest in things and thoughts that they once found enjoyable or pleasurable.
What causes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children?
Experiencing or witnessing a range and degree of traumatic events trigger PTSD in all ages. Traumatic events can be caused by the following:
- Death – sudden loss of a loved one or personally experiencing death (person dying in front of you due to natural causes or accidents).
- Stressful Event – being put under lots of stress that affects not only the mental state but the physical well-being as well, such as being in the centre of a war zone or personally being involved or dragged in a fight between your loved ones.
- Assault – experiencing verbal, sexual, physical and other assaults can make a deep impression that can affect a person for a long time.
- Accidents – serious accidents that create physical scars (such as loss of a limb or of a motor function) can also leave mental, emotional and psychological scars that can lead to PTSD.
- Lifestyle – being in an abusive relationship for a long time and other stressful events can also cause PTSD.
Diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Pre-Teen and adolescence are the time for adventures and discoveries. Most of the time, your child can discover things about themselves that can help them grow, other times, they are exposed to situations that may bring up past trauma which can trigger PTSD. For parents raising children that are experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, this situation can be difficult not only for themselves but for everyone in the family.
All mental health challenges such as PTSD can affect several aspects of the patient’s life, as such, it is necessary for them to get the help and support they require to manage their condition and continue to live a normal life.
For parents with a teen experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is necessary to bring your child to see a GP or a Psychiatrist to get professional help. A diagnosis involves systematic interviews alongside ruling out other behavioural and mental health conditions.
Treatments for Children with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
For a patient to be diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, they should experience a number of symptoms including re-experiencing, avoidance, arousal & reactivity and cognition & mood symptoms. A holistic treatment that involves Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with social and emotional therapy along with proper medication is the best way to manage and treat PTSD. Other forms of therapy such as counselling and support groups can also contribute to the successful treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
Some patients may recover quickly such as within a year, while others may develop chronic PTSD that would require constant and vigilant management and a good treatment plan to help the patient have a normal life while living with this mental health condition. The best way to help your child with suspected PTSD is to bring them to get a proper diagnosis from a GP or Psychiatrist so that they can appropriate a treatment plan that should be discussed with the treating clinician.
Please note that HelpingMinds® does not offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. If you have PTSD and require CBT, you will require a referral from your GP. If you have someone close to you who is living with PTSD, we can offer you support and other services.
How to help your child with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
It can be very hard for parents to see their child experience a traumatic experience at such a young age and then see them develop PTSD afterwards. The best way to help them is to get them to a GP or a Psychiatrist for professional help. You can also turn to a mental health phone line or browse through mental health services online.
Aside from professional medical help, you can also connect your child to several support services and support groups for PTSD patients. If you also want to know what support services are available for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder patients in Australia, specifically in Western Australia, so that you may connect your child to the help that they need, you may contact HelpingMinds for more information.
How to help yourself
Seeing your child experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is not only very hurtful but can also be a stressful and frustrating experience for you. Supporting your child by giving assurance every day can also take its toll on you and leave you exhausted especially if you are primarily the one that your child depends on. But you don’t have to go through it alone.
HelpingMinds offers free and confidential support to people who are caring for someone living with mental health challenges. We offer free counselling, and support groups as well as rest and revive activities. All of our programs and services are designed to help you understand what they are going through and be informed about how you can help yourself as their carer. We also conduct school holiday programs, family programs and youth programs to help everyone when someone in your family is affected by mental health challenges.
Browse our website for our range of programs and activities or get in touch with us for more information on how we can help you.
Get Support from HelpingMinds®
Would you like to know more about free and confidential mental health carer services and how we can support you? Please feel free to contact HelpingMinds® via the form below or on (08) 9427 7100. For one of our team to get back to you, we will require your email address and/or phone number. Please know all information provided will be treated completely confidential and in line with our privacy policy.