Disorders after a tragic event, how to help children readjust?
Life is long and full of moments, both good and bad. No matter how many laughs there are in the day to day, there are situations in which we will have to face cries due to difficult contexts. Adults may be more prepared to overcome them and move forward, but the lack of maturity in the younger generations may cause further upheaval.
An alteration that even extends after the completion of these moments. A disorder that even ended the problem that originated it, continues to generate problems in the child or adolescent. From the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, AEP, it is recommended in the first place to identify possible situations that originate these cases in the new generations and then recognize symptoms to treat them.
Disorders after stress
The experts of this organization indicate that these disorders usually appear after a moment that could be described as traumatic. These are some of the situations susceptible of causing these problems:
- Duel for the death of a close person.
- Diseases that require frequent hospitalizations. Both in the case of young people and their families
- Bullying or school bullying. Especially when, even if the problem has been solved, the contact with the harasser is still maintained.
- Changes of residence and distance from your old comfort zone.
- Change of school stage. It is most noticeable in the changes from the institute to the university.
Going through these situations does not mean that one of these disorders will develop. To identify them, we will also have to take care of some symptom:
- Sensation of sudden discomfort and without any cause of health that explains it.
- Depressive symptoms translated into sadness, crying, ideas of uselessness, apathy, demotivation, insomnia.
- Symptoms of anxiety. Too much worry about suffering, fear to go out to the street where their dangers are located.
- Aggressive responses and a tendency to social isolation, distancing from those around him.
- Regressive phenomena and behaviors typical of the infant stage such as urinating on top, infantile language or sucking the finger.
Help him in this situation
The AEP notes that these disorders to adapt to new situations, after traumatic moments, are transients and the best recipe is to wait until the time passes for the child or adolescent to get used to this new context. Although parents can help your child achieve this moment with the following techniques:
- Offer confidence and spend as much time as possible to encourage him to talk about the situation and reveal his feelings.
- Accept your sadness, do not try to avoid it or ignore it, or give it little importance. It is a real feeling that must be overcome, not underestimated.
- Be patient, every child needs their time. Do not blame the scant progress, but encourage him to talk about what prevents him from improving and of course, applaud any step forward.
- Do not overprotect the child, as he must learn to face negative situations and the only way to do it is to face it. The good thing about these moments is that in the end you will learn a lesson on how to overcome setbacks.
Damián Montero
