PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder is a crippling mental disorder that keeps a person from living their lives to the fullest. They seem distant and unapproachable when it comes to the origin of their PTSD. Adults become unresponsive to others and can easily fall into other mental disorders like depression. However, PTSD doesn’t just target adults. PTSD in children is as common as adult PTSD and can easily destroy a child’s future if left untreated.
What Happens if PTSD in Children is Left Untreated?
PTSD might be dangerous in adults, but it can be even more so in a young child or teenager still going through their formative years. If it isn’t treated, then children with PTSD will end up carrying their mental disorder until adulthood. It can be difficult if not impossible to treat from then on so it’s best to find help as soon as possible. Some of the things that a child might carry over to adulthood include:
Social Awkwardness
People with PTSD tend to shut people out of their lives, regardless of who they are. That means that they will end up having difficulty making and keeping friends, business partners, and even romantic partners. This will cause them to have difficulty in life as without these a person can fall into vices or even more severe mental disorders.
Difficulty Trusting Other People
This is one of the rarer effects with PTSD in children. It mostly depends on whether the traumatic event was inflicted on the child by someone they trust. If this is the case then these people will purposefully try to keep others away because they believe that others will just betray their trust. This is similar to social awkwardness but is far more severe because they intentionally isolate themselves from others.
A Predisposition for Other Mental Disorders
PTSD, like many other mental disorders, damages a person’s psyche and can make it easier for them to develop other mental disorders. PTSD in children can easily cause anxiety disorders, and depression to become a major negative factor in a person’s future. It’s a vicious cycle that’s difficult to stop.
Slower and Damaged Cognitive Development
The brain is one of the most important parts of the body. It’s what makes you, you. Children experiencing PTSD will have stunted brain development when compared to a normal child. This causes them to have slower capability to learn, lower general IQ, memory problems, damaged social and emotional responses, and a defensive personality. These can all make a child with PTSD very difficult to approach. It can also easily lead to many more problems in adulthood.
What Can You Do?
The best thing that you can do as a parent or relative of someone with childhood PTSD, is to bring them to a licensed professional. They will be able to prescribe solutions like therapy and medication. This helps a child outgrow their PTSD and help them live a more fulfilling adulthood. Contact us today to have access to the best psychological treatments in Arizona!
