Types of Traumatic Events That Can Affect Children

There are a lot of things that are a part of modern society that can be traumatic for children. There are horrific events in nature like earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes although these are not as personal to children as being the victim of a violent act. Those who are tortured or raped will most likely have to face the perpetrator. When the child is involved in some kind of accident like an airplane crash or a dam bursting, the child is personally affected even though it was not directed personally at them.

When a child is abused by someone that they trust like an authority figure or even family member, they question why this person is wanting to hurt them. The child ends up feeling that they themselves must have been a bad girl or boy.

According to the studies that have been done, the more personally the child has been attack or traumatized, the longer the duration of its adverse affects will be on the child. These traumatic events will probably be where there was hostility or anger involved.

Sexual abuse in childhood may have lasting damaging effects preventing the child from developing socially or academically. For a woman who was sexually abused in childhood, she will almost always suffer an attack in her adult life also. If the abuse was just physical and not sexual in nature the repeated trauma is lessened.

Adults who experience a traumatic event will develop post-truamtic stress disorder by about 24% but in children, with about 1.8 million reports of trauma each year, 36% will end up with PTSD. The earlier in life that the trauma happens, the more likely the child will be to develop the disorder.

Nearly one out of every four children, by the age of eighteen, will have directly or indirectly been involved in a violent act. The studies indicate that in children involved in a domestic act of violence upwards of 3 million are affected yearly. Four million will be victims in their teen age years and nine million will have been a witness of this kind of traumatic event.

Children are exposed to violence on the television every day. Parents should be very careful about what their children are allowed to see and read. The older child does not need to be constantly bombarded with violence either. Parents can help by talking openly with their children.

When home life becomes stressful with the parents constantly arguing or expressing concern about money issues, the children are aware and will internalize this in an adverse way. They are very sensitive to their environment even if the parents don't think they are involving their children in their own problems. The parents can help the child by handling their own traumatic events by seeking help for themselves.

Because the child reacts to their environment, their treatment should include all those who are a part of their environment such as their family members, school professionals and caregivers. For adults, the treatment works best when they are involved in some kind of group therapy where they are free to express their inner most feelings with others who have undergone similar experiences.