By Stacey Steinberg
Children may be processing the disruptions in their lives right now in ways the adults around them do not expect: acting out, regressing, retreating or even seeming surprisingly content. Parents need to know that all of this is normal, experts say, and there are some things we can do to help.
“Our natural response to scary things is biologically to release stress hormones,” said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician and surgeon general of the state of California, and the author of “The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity.” The release of stress hormones activates our fight or flight response. Our bodies, in responding with the release of stress hormones, are doing exactly what they should be doing.
But in some cases, exposure to stressful events — which right now might include the absence of routines, a parent’s job loss and economic hardship, or the serious illness or death of someone a child cares about — can leave children feeling traumatized.
Share This Post!
We’re therapists. Here’s why it’s too soon for kids to return to Camp Mystic. | Opinion
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Source: Houston Chronicle Less than a year after the deadly July 4 flood, Camp Mystic plans to reopen its Cypress Lake location, not far from the still-closed Guadalupe River site where floodwaters [...]
Women who experience trauma are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD. Here’s why
Source: American Psychological Association More than half of all women will be exposed to at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, according to the National Center for PTSDopens in new window. Those [...]
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children
Source: CDC All children may experience very stressful events that affect how they think and feel. Most of the time, children recover quickly and well. However, sometimes children who experience severe [...]
From Survival to Advocacy: How Chester Street Foundation is Healing Texas
Written by: Shawn Alex Nemeth In 2009, Shawn Alex Nemeth was hospitalized and diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It was the culmination of a lifetime of trauma, encoded into his [...]
How Trauma Affects Kids in School
Source: Child Mind Institute For many kids who suffer from trauma, it’s not one event. Often, it’s ongoing abuse or neglect. This could be violence at home or in their neighborhood. [...]
Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Measures of Poor Sleep Health in Adulthood
Source: ResearchGate Background: Sleep health is a multidimensional concept that plays a critical role in both physical and mental well-being. While there is evidence to suggest that sleep health may be linked [...]