Assume Every Child Has PTSD

 

There must be more… more…
More current more spark
More touch deep in the heart
Not more thoughtless cruelty
Not more feeling this lonely

— Bruce Cockburn, More Not More

 

What a year it’s been.

Another year living through a deadly global pandemic. War in Europe, natural disasters, drought and famine in Africa, mass shootings on the streets, in schools and places of worship, decaying social discourse…

That’s not all the weight of the world our children our carrying on their small and still-developing shoulders. Psychologist Kathy Wu, PhD is an expert in treating child survivors of trauma:

Compounding these macro-level stresses are adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that a majority of children (61%) experience at least one of in their lifetimes. ACEs of a potentially traumatic nature include exposure to or witness of violence in the home or community, abuse, or neglect, mental health or substance use problems in the household, and a family member attempting or completing suicide. These toxic stresses contribute to chronic mental and physical health problems in adolescence and adulthood.

 

With so much exposure to human ugliness and violence — and a healthy future for our children and grandchildren at stake — Dr. Wu wants pediatricians and other child health clinicians to assume that every child has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) until proven otherwise. The acute impact of trauma should be assessed immediately:

• Clinicians should bravely inquire directly about how a recent trauma exposure has impacted the child

• If you are seeing the child within a month of the event, look for acute traumatic stress reactions such as avoidance of places, thoughts, or feelings involving the traumatic experience, dissociation from reality (e.g., blank stares into space or being lost in thought), or intrusive distressing memories of the event

• Children will have increased likelihood of impairments in their functioning if they have multiple acute stress reactions

• When there are noted impairments in a child’s functioning, clinicians should refer the child for additional psychological assessment, treatment, or follow-up to monitor their progress towards recovery

 

Parents and caregivers should be on the lookout for these long-term symptoms that indicate a diagnosis of PTSD and the need for trauma-informed treatment from a psychologist:

• Denial or numbness to all or parts of the event

• Repeated flashbacks to the event and enactment of their experiences in play or thoughts (children with prolonged exposure to significant amounts of media coverage of the event are at risk of re-traumatization)

• Inability to feel well rested due to bothersome nightmares or interruptions to sleep

• Changes in mood, such as increased irritability, anger, sadness, helplessness, hopelessness, and tearfulness

• Withdrawal and isolation from others and meaningful activities

• Self-medication, self-injurious behaviors, and/or engagement in alcohol or illegal substances

• Hypervigilance to potential threats and being easily startled by what seem to be innocuous stimuli; be aware that these symptoms may disguise as symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), so do not stop at a diagnosis of ADHD

 

Here’s to a better, brighter, kinder 2023 — for the sake of everyone’s children.

 

(Google Images)

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/12/28/assume-every-child-has-ptsd/