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PTSD Among Teens
Introduction
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition brought on by trauma. A trauma is a stressful event that makes a person fear for their or other people’s life or safety. Trauma events that can lead to PTSD include physical or sexual abuse, assault, school or neighbourhood violence, natural disasters, car accidents, military combat, sudden loss, and more. An event can be a trauma for someone even if they don’t go through the danger themselves. For example, seeing someone else be hurt or die from violence can be a trauma.
You can rest assured that at Skooc, you and your family are in good hands.
Symptoms
Keep a lookout for some of the following signs of PTSD in your teenager:
Bad memories or flashbacks to the traumatic experience
Remembering or re-experiencing the event,
Increased nightmares or insomnia
Avoiding things or anyone associated with the trauma, increased anger and irritability
Changes in mood, such as feeling sad, moody, angry, or detached
Withdrawing from friends and experiences they used to enjoy
Feeling more easily scared, anxious, jumpy, or easily startled
Having difficulty in school, including trouble concentrating and completing work
Feeling numb or depressed
Not wanting to talk about the traumatic event
Easily triggered by things that remind them of the traumatic event
If you notice recurring instances of a few of these symptoms in your teenager, we at Skooc recommend a formal evaluation.
Diagnosis
At Skooc, we help you better understand what you and your teenager are going through. If you suspect your teen has PTSD, your first step is to get a diagnosis. You can do this by visiting their paediatrician, who may give you a referral to a mental health provider. If it’s clear that your teen is experiencing PTSD, therapy will likely be recommended. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health counsellors have the experience to work with patients with PTSD. Treatment for PTSD can include therapy and/or medicines to help with anxiety, mood problems, and sleep issues.
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Next Steps and Intervention
Our team of professional psychologists at Skooc can help you and your family by providing the necessary interventions. Trauma therapists also guide parents on how to listen and show they understand.
Therapy for PTSD is called trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT). This type of talk therapy uses talking and learning activities, guided by a mental health therapist. It can help anyone who has been through a trauma, not just people with PTSD.
PTSD therapy often includes:
Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) activities: to help with thoughts and feelings about the trauma
Prolonged exposure (PE) activities: to help someone lower anxiety and learn to safely face things they avoid after trauma
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR): combined cognitive therapy with directed eye movements to reduce the power and pain of the trauma. This helps the brain reprocess memory of the trauma. There are therapists who specialize in this type of trauma therapy.
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