Continuing with our topic about children and traumas, we will talk about the signs you need to identify that will tell you if your children are going through post-traumatic stress disorder and what can you do to help.

As any other disease, this too has its symptoms, which may include the desire to stay indoors and not go to school, clinging from one or both parents, constant fears in relation to different catastrophic scenarios. Children who have been exposed to trauma may also face sleep disturbances like nightmares, waking up screaming and bedwetting for a while after the event. In addition to that, they may also manifest loss of concentration and they can be easily irritable. Also, kids can get startled or scared much more easily if they have unresolved issues in relation to a trauma. At school and even at home, they will have reactions that are not usual for them. Sometimes, they can even accuse physical pain such as headaches or stomachaches and when there are no actual causes, it can be another symptom of traumatic stress disorder. Other signs may include lack of activity, obsessing over the past events, apathy and withdrawal from the close ones.

As you can see, it’s very important to keep an eye on children because otherwise, you won’t be able to tell the difference between normal and strange behavior. If you notice any of the symptoms presented above, try talking to them, get to the bottom of things and show them affection. If necessary, do seek for help from a specialist. If they are not treated properly and on time, these traumas can affect their whole lives.

However, before having to treat it, you can try and prevent it by taking certain measures when a crisis occurs.

The first thing you can do is focus on the positive. However, render an accurate perspective of the events. This is tricky, because a massive natural disaster can take so many lives and dramatically change the environment, so a balance between telling the truth but keeping an optimist perspective on the future is hard to achieve, but crucial.

You can do that by emphasizing how lucky you all are for surviving and for having all the things around it, and what you can do to protect yourselves in the future.

If your children are watching TV and news about a disaster come up, you can bring about the subject of how people in different organizations or neighbors are helping others that were affected. Tell them what people do and what can be done in such cases.

This will shift their focus from the tragedy to the helping part. Not only it will make them stay positive, but it will also teach them to be human.

Don’t miss out the last part of this series next time!