Signs & Symptoms
Children's PTSD symptoms fall into the following categories:
Re-experiencing
- Moments when a child seems to replay the event in his or her mind
- Intrusion of recurrent memories of the event or repetitive play about the event
- nightmares, scary dreams
Arousal
- Disorganized and agitated behavior
- Irritability or anger
- Nervousness about everyone and everything around the child, as when people get too close
- Jumpy when hearing loud noises
Avoidance
- Avoidance of thoughts, feelings, or places that remind the child of what happened
- Numbing, or lack of, emotions
Other behaviors
- Regression to earlier behavior, such as clinging, bedwetting, thumb sucking
- Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
- Detached from others, social withdrawal
- Excessive use of alcohol or other substances to self medicate
