Mental Health for Trauma in Children and Adolescents

Introduction

Trauma survivors tend to suffer particularly from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This condition makes it hard for the victims to be able to cope up with their daily activities due to what they remember.  PTSD has become a very serious condition particularly to victims of accidents, soldiers and even victims of gang attacks and terrorist attacks. If care is not taken, victims may end up committing suicide or even become mentally affected. This condition can also be termed as mental torture, as visions of the actual scenes tend to appear at the back of the victims mind, a move which leads to mental issues. In a bid to understand the effects of PTSD on the mental health of the survivors, this paper is going to discuss the epidemiological studies on PTSD, after which  I will give my personal perspective on the study.     

Respondents report lifetime experience to a huge number of traumas, in most health surveys. According to the respondents, the worst traumatic events which they have experienced in their lives have been mostly the causative agents of PTSD (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016). When they get used to traumatic experiences such as child rape which is usually done from time to time, they tend to be less traumatized as compared to when they experience a critical trauma, which they have never experienced before. Most people may also suffer from PTSD only if they experience the worst trauma in their lives, a thing which makes them not to forget, hence it keeps reappearing in their minds (Taiwo et al, 2016).

Links of Traumatic Event Experience

Factors related to upsetting occurrence experience are different in different parts of the world. For instance, loss of a job is the only sociodemographic factor which is linked to the risk of upsetting event experience in the US, with housewives’ risks of traumatic experience being low as compared to those working (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016). In addition, female sex was linked to reduced risk of traumatic experience exposure, this pattern is also similar to South Africa and other developed countries too. In countries such as Spain and Italy, poor performance in education were also linked with abridged risk of traumatic involvement. On the other hand, in Italy those who had never been married were at lower risks of upsetting event exposure as compared to the married and the old. Marital status and unemployment in Japan were linked with high levels of traumatic experience (Smith, 2014).

Prevalence among children and adolescents

There are many things which can result into PTSD among children and they include the following: violent or sexual abuse, manmade disasters, physical abuse, and violent misconducts such as kidnapping, road accidents and plane crash (Taiwo et al, 2016). Witnessing violence may also result into PTSD, since children are prone to trauma. Domestic violence is one of the main agents of PTSD among children since they usually experience the actual happenings of the events. When such events happen to those related to children, it makes them to fall victims of PTSD (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016).

The number of children and adolescents experiencing PTSD increases on a daily basis due to frequent attacks and crimes being committed before children (Taiwo et al, 2016). Out of the referred cases, 29% were verified and took place in the preceding frequencies: more than 75% suffered negligence. In the year 2010, almost 50% of adolescents experienced physical assaults, 1 in a total of 10 experienced child mistreatment, less than one out of 10 had been victimized sexually and more than 1 out of 4 had witnessed domestic or otherwise community violence (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016).   

How does PTSD look like in Children and Adolescents?

PTSD in children is similar to that in adults whereby the traumatic events keep reappearing, numbing and evasion and provocation symptoms. However, PTSD does not present itself in children in the same way it presents in adults. Factors such as age and other specific features affect the way PTSD presents itself in children (Taiwo et al, 2016).

Children between the ages of 3-6    

According to researches, children of this age are not likely to experience visual memories or amnesia for the traits of trauma. Nonetheless they experience appearance of visions from time to time. Children also exhibit post traumatic play, which occurs when they play. In other words, the trauma keeps recurring while they play from time to time (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016).

Teens and Adolescents

PTSD in adolescents is somehow similar to that of adults due to their age. Nonetheless, there are less features which differ (Smith, 2014). After a trauma, children are likely to indulge in a traumatic play, which is similar to adolescents who are more likely to engross in traumatic re-enactment, whereby they include the facets of the trauma into their day to day activities. Furthermore, adolescents as opposed to younger children, are more likely to exhibit impetuous and violent behaviours (Trickey et al, 2012).      

Other Effects of Trauma on Adolescents and Children

Adolescents and children who have experienced PTSD in their lives also exhibit other types of problems (Smith, 2014). When children are abused either through sexual contact, thos who have been involved in a road accident, are most likely to be affected by aggression, hostility, anger and feelings of isolation. The issues they faced while young tends to affect their childhood ages up to adulthood (Trickey et al, 2012). This consequently makes it hard for them to easily maintain relationships or to get into long-term relationships. Due to insecurities, fear anger and stigma, they tend to react in a hostile way thus making their partners to shy away from them. This may also affect their performance in class, since they may not perform better due to the fear of understanding (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016).       

Treatment of PTSD in Children and Adolescents

PTSD in some children vanishes with time, while in others it affects them up to their adulthood ages. They may therefore exhibit the symptoms of PTSD for very many years if the condition is not treated.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy   

CBT is the most effective method of treating children suffering from PTSD. This method involves a counsellor discussing with the child the traumatic events. After which the counsellor provides a solution to the child (Taiwo et al, 2016). The counsellor may consequently teach the child techniques such as relaxing, and shifting thoughts from trauma related issues. However, this method has been highly criticised by many, who term it as irrational as it exposes children to scary events. Children are usually exposed to scary events and taught how to avoid them, thus making them to gain an understanding on how to deal with PTSD (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016).

Medication

Adults are allowed to use Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. This drug is nonetheless also approved for children suffering from depression. It is evident that the drug is also used for the treatment of PTSD, however it has a lot of risks some of which might include the following petulance and poor sleep.                

Personal Perspective on PTSD         

The studies have clearly explained the way PTSD is caused, the impacts and implications it has on the lives of children and adolescents (Taiwo et al, 2016). The evidence has been clearly backed up whereby in the prevalence of PTSD, the research has observed the reasons as to why most children tend to be affected by sexual, communal and physical disasters (Sachser, & Goldbeck, 2016). In the modes of treatment, the studies have also been very clear thus providing the best ways of treating the issue. This study was therefore conducted in the best way possible and it meets the criteria of a research (Smith, 2014).

Conclusion

The study was conducted in the best way possible, thus providing the best research. The paper provided the links of traumatic event experience. In addition the paper looked into the reasons as to why PTSD tends to affect children and why it lasts for long. Moreover, the paper has provided a list of the main causative agents of PTSD some of which included sexual abuse, physical abuse, road accident and plane crash. Children are usually affected by the past memories, as it keeps recurring particularly as they play making it hard for them to concrete in playing. Adolescents are also affected in the same way, but their conditions seem to be worse and may include violence.

Reference

Sachser, C., & Goldbeck, L. (2016). Consequences of the Diagnostic Criteria Proposed for the ICD-11 on the Prevalence of PTSD in Children and Adolescents. Journal Of Traumatic Stress, (2), 120. doi:10.1002/jts.22080

Taiwo Lateef, S., Abdulaziz, M., Edwin, E., Tosin, A., Folorunsho Tajudeen, N., Modupe, L., & ... Akande, Y. (2016). Descriptive characterization of psycho-trauma, psychological distress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among children and adolescent internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kaduna, Northwestern Nigeria. Frontiers In Psychiatry, Vol 7 (2016), doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00179/full

Smith, A. J. (2014). PTSD in Children and Adolescents: The Aftermath of Parental Incarceration among Children and Adolescents within the African-American Community.

Trickey, D., Siddaway, A. P., Meiser-Stedman, R., Serpell, L., & Field, A. P. (2012). A meta-analysis of risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 32122-138. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.12.001

Gillies, D. (2016). Psychological therapies for children and adolescents exposed to trauma. Cochrane Database Of Systematic Reviews, (10), doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012371