Coping WIth Traumatic Experiences: How To Help A Child Deal With Traumatizing Life Circumstances

A traumatic situation alters the life of any person, whether an adult or a child. But at an early age in which a child's mind is still developing, it can affect the development of their personality, cognitive processes and even affects their growth.

Children are especially vulnerable because they do not have the same strategies as an adult to deal with problems. They also do not have the emotional intelligence to handle and express emotions, as reported on a Psych Central blog.

The problem with children is that many times they do not know how to express what happens to them, they can't tell or do not know what to do or how to seek help, which could be a way that will make it possible to improve. Hence, parents must be vigilant with their children's certain behaviors.

According to Parental Alienation, sexual, verbal and physical abuse, natural disasters, traffic accidents are the obvious traumatizing circumstances for any individual. But for a child, there are other less obvious experiences that can be traumatic for them that adults sometimes ignore.

Since children have not fully developed their psyche, it is easier for them to draw erroneous consequences or to understand certain events around them. Children may be poorly restrained from exposure to violent situations or on television but they may become unsafe and fearful, especially if they are imagining the things they saw on TV happening to them.

The aforementioned instance, however, does not or rarely happen in adults, who understand that what they see on television sometimes are far from reality. Even though this may not affect the adults, a child may think that it could happen to him.

Events that strongly alter the routines of the child's life can also affect him negatively because for children the world is built on predictable events in a certain way that happen in a logical sequence as you have learned for years. When all this is altered, a child may think and feel as if their world has been turned upside down because everything they knew no longer makes sense.

These circumstances happen a lot in divorces in which there is also a great emotional impact because the idea of having both parents living in one household and have a complete family are the norms. As a child's perception of a happy and complete family collapses, doubts and insecurities around many areas are starting to unfold. 

With that said, it is important that parents reassure them that they will do everything to keep them and their loved ones safe. Based on the tips posted by Anxiety and Depression Association of America, parents should also encourage their children to talk and ask questions.

In addition, parents should avoid discussing worst-case scenarios with their kids and limit watching and listening to graphic replays of the traumatic events. Parents should also protect their children from what they don't need to know and answer questions honestly.