PTSD in Children

PTSD in Children Imagine not having control of your emotions, at times feeling like you’re under attack. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents occurs as a result of a child’s exposure to 1 or more major traumatic events, whether from an objective event like a car crash or sports injury to trauma involving loved ones, such as domestic violence, abuse, or neglect. These factors and many other can lead to acting out in young children. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statistics for 2012, approximately 905,000 U.S. children were found to have been maltreated that year, with 16% of them reported as physically abused (the remainder having suffered sexual abuse or neglect.)1 In other studies, it's been noted that approximately 14-43% of children have experienced at least one traumatic abusive event prior to adulthood. The American Humane Association (AHA), an estimated 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. This equates to approximately 223.4 million people Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, that equates to approximately 44.7 million people who were or are struggling with PTSD. An estimated 8% of Americans − 24.4 million people − have PTSD at any given time. That is equal to the total population of Texas. An estimated one out of every nine women develops PTSD, making them about twice as likely as men. (Lubit, 2014)
PTSD has been documented throughout history, but the classification of the disorder is still relatively new. It was not until 1980 that PTSD became a category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; it is still unknown why PTSD affects some people and not others, when a child is exposed to a history of abuse and trauma the likely hood of them developing this disorder are higher. There is testing that can be done based on symptoms. For example difficulty concentrating, avoiding certain things