Trauma and Teens

The impact that a trauma event has on a teen can be mild to significant. Often times, the trauma is misunderstood, mislabeled and even misdiagnosed for ADHD, Oppositional Defiance, Conduct, or learning issues. In today's blog, I want to briefly review trauma itself, its impact on teens, their responses and also how you can be a support. Briefly, trauma according to the DSM-IV requires that an individual experience or witness an event(s) in which they perceive a threat to their life and evoking intensive fear, helplessness, or horror.
Trauma responses are understood as Type 1 or Type 2. Type 1 trauma response results from an unexpected and discreet experience that overwhelms the individual's ability to cope with the stress, fear, threat or horror of this event leading to PTSD. Type 1 trauma responses tend to be a single occurrence. Type 2 trauma response results from an expected, but unavoidable, ongoing experience(s) that overwhelms the individual's ability to tolerate the event (childhood sexual abuse for example). This tends to lead to more chronic and complex trauma.

When a teen experiences a trauma event, this can have a significant impact on their ability to internally cope and manage their environment. They can experience many different reactions such as:

• shock and disbelief
• fear and/or anxiety
• grief, disorientation, denial
• hyper-alertness or hypervigilance
• irritability, restlessness, outbursts of anger or rage
• emotional swings -- like crying and then laughing
• worrying or ruminating -- intrusive thoughts of the trauma
• nightmares
• flashbacks -- feeling like the trauma is happening now
• feelings of helplessness, panic, feeling out of control
• increased need to control everyday experiences
• minimizing the experience
• attempts to avoid anything associated with trauma
• tendency to isolate oneself
• feelings of detachment
• concern over burdening others with problems
• emotional numbing or restricted range of feelings
• difficulty trusting and/or feelings of betrayal
• difficulty concentrating or remembering
• feelings of self-blame and/or survivor guilt
• shame
• diminished interest in everyday activities or depression
• unpleasant past memories resurfacing
• loss of a sense of order or fairness in the world; expectation of doom and fear of the future

 People are usually surprised that reactions to trauma can last from a couple of weeks to months, and in some cases, many years. Supportive family, caring adults and friends are critical to help the teen through this period. But sometimes friends, caring adults and family may push the teen to "get over it" before they're ready. It is important that they realize such responses are not helpful for the youth right now. Being with the youth, providing support, empathy, nurturing and understanding are critical to providing a feeling of safety.

According to Patti Levin (PsyD), she describes the following helpful coping strategies for trauma reactions:

• mobilize a support system n reach out and connect with others, especially those who may have shared the stressful event
• talk about the traumatic experience with empathic listeners
• cry
• hard exercise like jogging, aerobics, bicycling, walking
• relaxation exercise like yoga, stretching, massage
• humor
• prayer and/or meditation; guided Imagery relaxation; deep breathing exercise,
  progressive relaxation
• hot baths
• music and art
• maintain balanced diet and sleep cycle as much as possible
• avoid over-using stimulants like caffeine, sugar, or nicotine
• commitment to something personally meaningful and important every day
• hug those you love, pets included
• eat warm turkey, boiled onions, baked potatoes, cream-based soups n these are tryptophane activators, which help you feel tired but good (like after Thanksgiving dinner)
• organize proactive responses toward personal and community safety 
• do something socially active
• write about your experience in detail, just for yourself or to share with others

A trauma therapist can be very helpful in supporting your teen should the trauma symptoms prolong. They can assist your teen in sorting through the anxiousness and panic features they might be experiencing. Also, they will be able to assist your teen in establishing effective coping strategies and safety in order to move beyond the trauma.

Thanks for reading!!
Ian