What Age Group Shows The Most Signs Of Ptsd

Update For Mental Health Professionals

Produced by: 2008 Presidential Task Force on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma in Children and Adolescents

Much of our knowledge about PTSD is based on studies of adults. As evidenced by the birth of new scientific disciplines , it is clear that what we learn from research involving adults may not necessarily be applicable to children and adolescents. Indeed, the field of child and adolescent PTSD and trauma is relatively young, although the knowledge base has increased substantially over the past 2 decades. Moreover, task force members recognize that mental health professionals may have many different perspectives on child and adolescent trauma, particularly in regard to the specific nature of its effects and what interventions may be most effective in reducing negative outcomes and enhancing adaptive functioning. Although we attempt to summarize here what is currently known about child and adolescent PTSD and trauma, we welcome ongoing discussion and novel perspectives, which help to advance the field.

Ptsd Is A Common Mental Health Condition That Affects More Than Just Veterans Learn More About Facts And Statistics Related To This Condition As Well As Treatment Outcomes

While most often associated with experiencing wartime trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder may occur following exposure to any traumatic event. PTSD can develop in response to natural disasters, accidents or violent experiences. PTSD facts indicate that a majority of adults experience at least one traumatic event during their life, but most do not go on to develop PTSD. According to PTSD statistics, a relatively small percentage of those who experience trauma develop PTSD. However, PTSD facts and statistics indicate that the disorder is more common than many people estimate.

Are you or a loved one dealing with a life-altering trauma and are struggling to cope? Contact Mental Health America at 1-800-273-TALK to find help today.

Who Is Most Vulnerable To Ptsd

PTSD is a very complex form of anxiety that is known to impact people who have been through dangerous or life-altering events. Not everyone who goes through these types of events suffer from PTSD so it can be difficult to tell when someone is suffering and what to do next.

A great way to start deepening your understanding of PTSD, whether you think yourself or a loved one may be dealing with the disorder, is to understand who is the most vulnerable and likely to be affected. But first, lets get to the root of it all:

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What Is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Children

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a mental health problem. It can affect people of all ages. A child with PTSD keeps having scary thoughts and memories of a past event. He or she finds the event terrifying, either physically or emotionally.

The symptoms of PTSD may start soon after a stressful event. Or they may not happen for 6 months or longer. Some children with PTSD have long-term effects. They may feel emotionally numb for a very long time. PTSD in children often becomes a long-term problem.

PTSD may be accompanied by:

• Depression

When Should I Call My Childs Healthcare Provider

• Feels extreme depression, fear, anxiety, or anger toward him or herself or others

• Feels out of control

• Hears voices that others dont hear

• Sees things that others dont see

• Cant sleep or eat for 3 days in a row

• Shows behavior that concerns friends, family, or teachers, and others express concern about this behavior and ask you to get help

PTSD increases risk for other mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal thinking.

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Can Ptsd Cause Complications

An important part of living with PTSD is understanding the side effects it can cause, and finding ways to cope with those complications. PTSD can disrupt many aspects of your life, from your career to your relationships to your health. It can also increase your risk of other mental health issues, including:

What Events Can Lead To The Development Of Ptsd

You dont have to experience a specific trauma to develop PTSD. Many people associate this disorder with military veterans. While PTSD is common in military populations, simply witnessing an event, like a car accident, can trigger PTSD symptoms.

In these cases, painful, traumatic memories can appear out of nowhere, creating intense physical and emotional reactions. During World War I, this was referred to as shell shock. When the horrors of war were too much for the brain to manage, the brain, or at least part of the brain, simply shut off.

Children and teens often experience PTSD as a result of traumas that impact them, such as school shootings, domestic violence, auto accidents, neglect, or abuse. 15-43% of adolescents will experience a traumatic event, with about a quarter of those individuals experiencing symptoms of PTSD.

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Diagnostic Validity Sensitivity Specificity And Comorbidity: Evidence For Ptsd As The Core Trauma Response

The tenor of past controversies around PTSD seem to have been extreme because PTSD is one of the rare disorders with anetiologic event, and because many claims for diagnoses have been in the context of claims for disability, financial gain, and legalmanipulations. But ignoring those diversions, the case for the validity of PTSD as a distinct diagnostic construct is as strong as forany other psychiatric disorder. In fact, PTSD is one of the most well-studied and validated disorders in longitudinal,neurobiological, and treatment response studies. Some clinicians, scholars, and other observers may be dissatisfied with thecomplexity and messiness of posttraumatic responses, but the data do not support a wholesale deconstruction of PTSD based on falsenegatives or false positives. Not all of the diagnostic validity evidence can be reviewed in this space, but several major issues ofpractical clinical assessment are reviewed.

Another fact that drives some concerns about specificity is that overlap exists between diagnostic criteria for PTSD and otherinternalizing disorders. Four PTSD diagnostic criteria overlap with MDD. Three symptoms of PTSD overlap with GAD.

How To Discuss Ptsd With Newcomers

To address some of the difficulties described above, consider using the following strategies when discussing PTSD with newcomers to Canada:

Keep discussion family-centred.

• The best approach is to involve the family as a whole.
• Parents often find it difficult to balance the need to share their own feelings with the risk of upsetting their children.
• Parents require help to deal with their own emotions and symptoms before they can be asked to help their children understand and label feelings.

Encourage parents to create a safe environment for children.

• This partly involves parents sharing their feelings as well as demonstrating that they have been able to cope with difficulties and that family members can help each other through difficult times.

Communicate the importance of confidentiality.

• Based on their experiences of being mistreated by people in authority, children and youth with PTSD may mistrust teachers and health care professionals.
• Care providers must reinforce the message that every effort is made to keep personal information and exchanges confidential.

Develop a trusting therapeutic relationship.

• This is particularly important for children and parents from ethnic and racial minority groups.8
• Culturally responsive efforts to engage families in treatment should be used.
• Having an interpreter and or cultural representative present may be important at times, but they must be used appropriately.

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Ptsd Causes And Risk Factors

Everyone reacts to traumatic events differently. Each person is unique in their ability to manage fear, stress and the threat posed by a traumatic event or situation. For that reason, not everyone who has a trauma will develop PTSD. Also, the type of help and support a person receives from friends, family members, and professionals following the trauma may impact the development of PTSD or the severity of symptoms.

PTSD was first brought to the attention of the medical community by war veterans hence the names shell shock and battle fatigue syndrome. However, anyone who has had a traumatic event can develop PTSD. People who were abused as children or who have been repeatedly exposed to life-threatening situations are at risk for developing PTSD. Victims of trauma related to physical and sexual assault face the greatest risk for PTSD.

You may be more likely to develop PTSD after a traumatic event if you have a history of other mental health problems, have blood relatives with mental health problems, or have a history of alcohol or drug abuse.

How common is PTSD?

About 3.6% of adult Americans — about 5.2 million people — have PTSD during the course of a year, and an estimated 7.8 million Americans will develop PTSD at some point in their lives. PTSD can develop at any age, including childhood. Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men. This may be due to the fact that women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence, abuse, and rape.

Who Can Experience Ptsd Anyone

PTSD is a condition that affects people of all ages. No one is immune to trauma or how it affects the human brain. Depending on the person, PTSD may mean something different but be equally as impactful.

The experience of post-traumatic stress can vary depending on the trauma that the individual went througheven symptoms can vary between two people. In some cases, symptoms can appear nearly instantaneously. For others, it can take decades for symptoms to surface and be recognized. For many, theres a delayed onset of symptoms, when the brain is no longer as preoccupied or the person has the opportunity to absorb what has happened.

There is no definitive answer to why some people who experience trauma develop PTSD and others do not. A combination of elements may cause the disorder or make individuals more susceptible to post-traumatic stress, such as:

• Exposure to trauma, including factors like the number of traumas experienced and the severity of those traumas
• Familial histories of anxiety and depression
• Emotional response
• How your brain regulates the hormones and chemicals your body releases in response to traumatic events and stress
• Occupations like soldiers, nurses, doctors, EMTs, law enforcement, and firefighters expose some people to more trauma than other in jobs

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Ptsd Statistics By Trauma

PTSD is rooted in traumatic events. The following statistics illustrate the percentage of people who will likely develop PTSD after experiencing these traumatic events:

• Sexual assault: 49%
• Shoot and stabbing victims: 15.4%
• The unexpected death of a loved one: 14.3%
• Parents of children with life-threatening illnesses: 10.4%
• Witnesses of violence: 7.3%

After Exposure To A Traumatic Life Event Short

Children and adolescents vary in the nature of their responses to traumatic experiences. The reactions of individual youths may be influenced by their developmental level, ethnicity/cultural factors, previous trauma exposure, available resources, and preexisting child and family problems. However, nearly all children and adolescents express some kind of distress or behavioral change in the acute phase of recovery from a traumatic event. Not all short-term responses to trauma are problematic, and some behavior changes may reflect adaptive attempts to cope with a difficult or challenging experience.

Many of the reactions displayed by children and adolescents who have been exposed to traumatic events are similar or identical to behaviors that mental health professionals see on a daily basis in their practice.These include:

• irritability

Functioning in the family, peer group, or school may be impaired as a result of such symptoms. Therefore, when working with children who may display these types of reactions, the clinician must make a careful assessment of possible exposure to trauma.

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Statistical Methods And Measurement Caveats

National Comorbidity Survey Replication

Diagnostic Assessment and Population:

• The NCS-R is a nationally representative, face-to-face, household survey conducted between February 2001 and April 2003 with a response rate of 70.9%. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed using a modified version of the fully structured World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview , a fully structured lay-administered diagnostic interview that generates both International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, and DSM-IV diagnoses. The DSM-IV criteria were used here. The Sheehan Disability Scale assessed disability in work role performance, household maintenance, social life, and intimate relationships on a 010 scale. Participants for the main interview totaled 9,282 English-speaking, non-institutionalized, civilian respondents. Post-traumatic stress disorder was assessed in a subsample of 5,692 adults. The NCS-R was led by Harvard University.
• Unlike the DSM-IV criteria used in the NCS-R and NCS-A, the current DSM-5 no longer places PTSD in the anxiety disorder category. It is listed in a new DSM-5 category, Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders.

Survey Non-response:

National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement

Diagnostic Assessment and Population:

Survey Non-response:

Learn About Trauma & Ptsd

Originally understood as the aftereffects of war on certain military veterans, we now know that post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that can affect anyone. PTSD is caused by exposure to a traumatic event or frightening experience such as sexual assault, war, natural disaster, accidents or the threat of death to oneself or a loved one. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a long-lasting consequence of incredibly traumatic events that overwhelm the individuals ability to cope.

Most individuals who have been exposed to these sorts of traumatic events develop feelings of anger, shock, fear, guilt, and anxiety. These are completely normal reactions to an unnatural event and will fade over time. A person who has PTSD develops such unusually strong feelings after such an event that they prevent him or her from living a purposeful life. Unfortunately the symptoms of PTSD arent reduced over time usually these feelings intensify until the individual is overwhelmed and unable to function.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can develop at any age, even during the first year of life. Symptoms most often begin to appear within the first three months following the incident but can present months or years later.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can impact every area of a persons life, but with proper management and support, this disorder can be treated. You do not have to define yourself by PTSD.

Statistics

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Ptsd And Domestic Violence

While PTSD may not always develop immediately following an episode of abuse, the connection between PTSD and domestic violence is undeniable. The probability of domestic violence victims developing PTSD may be influenced by the severity and duration of violence, as well as the age the violence is experienced. The perceived level of threat from domestic violence for example, whether or not someone feels their life is in danger can also influence the development of PTSD. The intense emotional connection victims have with their domestic abuser is likely a large part of what makes domestic violence so traumatic.

Facts About How Common Ptsd Is

The following statistics are based on the U.S. population:

• About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
• About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
• About 10 of every 100 women develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 men . Learn more about women, trauma and PTSD.

Apps for self-help, education, and support after trauma.

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Mental Illness And Addiction: Facts And Statistics

• Mental Illness and Addiction: Facts and Statistics

• The Crisis is Real
• Mental Illness and Addiction: Facts and Statistics

The terms “mental illness” and “addiction” refer to a wide range of disorders that affect mood, thinking and behaviour. Examples include depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia, as well as substance use disorders and problem gambling. Mental illness and addiction can be associated with distress and/or impairment of functioning. Symptoms vary from mild to severe.

With appropriate treatment and support, most people will recover.

What Are The Treatments For Post

The main treatments for PTSD are talk therapy, medicines, or both. PTSD affects people differently, so a treatment that works for one person may not work for another. If you have PTSD, you need to work with a mental health professional to find the best treatment for your symptoms.:

• Talk therapy, or psychotherapy, which can teach you about your symptoms. You will learn how to identify what triggers them and how to manage them. There are different types of talk therapy for PTSD.
• Medicines can help with the symptoms of PTSD. Antidepressants may help control symptoms such as sadness, worry, anger, and feeling numb inside. Other medicines can help with sleep problems and nightmares.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Ptsd

Symptoms of PTSD usually begin within 3 months of the traumatic incident, but they sometimes emerge later. To meet the criteria for PTSD, symptoms must last longer than 1 month, and they must be severe enough to interfere with aspects of daily life, such as relationships or work. The symptoms also must be unrelated to medication, substance use, or other illness.

The course of the illness varies: Although some people recover within 6 months, others have symptoms that last for a year or longer. People with PTSD often have co-occurring conditions, such as depression, substance use, or one or more anxiety disorders.

After a dangerous event, it is natural to have some symptoms or even to feel detached from the experience, as though you are observing things rather than experiencing them. A health care providersuch as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social workerwho has experience helping people with mental illnesses can determine whether symptoms meet the criteria for PTSD.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, an adult must have all of the following for at least 1 month:

• At least one re-experiencing symptom
• At least one avoidance symptom
• At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms
• At least two cognition and mood symptoms