What Are the Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments of Childhood Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
By Richard Famularo, M.D. The Harvard Mental Health Letter, January 1997 We asked Richard Famularo, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine. The causes and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are generally similar in children and adults. The traumatic experience is followed by recurrent or intrusive recollections, including repetitive play, frightening dreams, reenactment of the trauma, and intense reactions to symbolic reminders of the trauma. The child tries to avoid thoughts, feelings, people, and places associated with the traumatic event and may be unable to recall important aspects of it. There may also be signs of general emotional numbing, a diminished interest in life, and a foreshortened sense of the future. Other symptoms are insomnia, irritability, difficulty in concentrating, outbursts of rage, and jumpiness (an exaggerated startle response). Like adult PTSD, the childhood form is a severe and debilit
