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When something traumatic happens to a child, a sense of safety and security can be stripped away.  A child may be left with overwhelming feelings of a loss of power. Many of a child’s post-traumatic symptoms are dysfunctional attempts to regain a sense of control or safety within his environment.

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Physical Effects

Traumatized children can experience a variety of psychosomatic symptoms:

• Headaches, stomachaches, dizziness or shortness of breath. 

• Excessive fatigue or excess energy

• Marked change in eating habits

• Regressive behavior

• Increased sensitivity to touch

• Decreased reactivity to physical injury

Psychosomatic symptoms are the body’s way of complaining about the post-traumatic stress that it is being required to contain.  A full medical evaluation should be conducted to rule out any physiological causes. 

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Behavioral Effects of Trauma

Nightmares and Night Terrors

• Nightmares – child usually wakes on their own, remembers details and seeks comfort.  The child is easily soothed and falls back to sleep easily. 

• Night Terrors – occur usually within two hours of falling asleep.  It can be difficult to wake a child out of a night terror and waking is not advised.

Hypervigilance

• Traumatized children are always listening, always watching and consequently exhausted by their felt need to remain on alert.

Heightened Irritability

• The irritability must be a substantial change from the child’s previous functioning.

Increased Reliance on Caregivers

• A child who was previously independent may develop a regressive dependence on the parent that includes whining, clinging behavior and difficulty with separations.

Avoidance

• Children who have experienced a traumatic event may avoid all reminders of that event. 

Risk-taking behavior  

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Cognitive Effects/Thought Life Issues

Difficulty concentrating, distractibility and a short attention span

Develop distinctive fears of specific worries that did not trouble them before the trauma

• Traumatized children may perseverate on a certain aspect of the trauma or develop repetitive maladaptive thoughts in response to their traumatic events.

Guilt

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