DR. EARL Wright, Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in the Ministry of Health, has said that more persons are displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), especially children.
He said the growth in PTSDs was to be blamed on the increase in violence in the society.
PTSD is a psychological condition characterised by anxiety, withdrawal, or physical illness that may follow a traumatic experience, such as an accident or act of violence.
The United States National Institute of Mental Health defines 'trauma' in medical and psychiatric terms. Medically, trauma refers to a serious or critical body injury, such as a wound or shock, while psychiatric trauma, or emotional harm, involves the creation of emotional memories about a distressful event that is stored deep within the brain. Generally, the experts believe that the more direct the exposure to the traumatic event, the higher the risk for emotional harm. However, even second hand exposure to violence can be traumatic.
"What happens is that the individual is exposed to a situation which is life threatening and then after that they begin having problems with sleeping, eating, nightmares, or might have flashbacks to the situation," Dr. Wright explained.
He said that in Jamaica, most cases of PTSDs go unreported or unrecognised. "Approximately 10 to 15 per cent of individuals who are involved in a life threatening situation, and by that we mean motor vehicle accidents; those who are shot at and people who are stabbed, will develop post traumatic stress disorders, and we are not actually sure of the percentage of these individuals that have actually developed this disorder.
"We think that many more people have developed the disorder than we are seeing in the health centre or in the hospitals being treated."
Stating that children suffering from sexual, physical or emotional abuse also develop PTSD, Dr. Wright said that the condition was usually detected, when they start to avoid anything that reminds them of the life-threatening situation or the trauma that occurred.
"They will also begin having problems with concentration, some children will become more clinging, they will have problems with going to bed at nights, a lot of children will regress, in that children who are potty trained will began to wet the bed or soil their pants," he added.
Dr. Wright said that post-traumatic disorders in adolescents might be detected when they start drinking, some might become more anxious or start "acting up".
"Some children, if they keep hearing the gunshots, they can also develop post traumatic stress disorders and a number of individuals who have been in an accident are more likely to develop post traumatic stress disorder, than an individual who has had one exposure," he explained.
Dr. Wright said it was important for parents to recognise a change in behaviour after an incident, and remove the child from the traumatic situation.
"After a child is exposed to a very traumatic event, the child or adolescent should be made to feel secure. If it is an accident, the child should be removed from the accident, or if it is an area of violence, the child should be removed from the violent situation and made to feel secure. Hugging the child is also important, as this will make it known that somebody is there for him or her," he stated.
He also suggested that allowing the child to heal naturally could help.
"What is going to be important is allowing the child to deal with the situation. The younger age group children deal with the situation by playing, while for the older age group, talking about the situation helps them to deal with it. But, others will need to get professional help," Dr. Wright pointed out.
He noted that recovering from PTSD took time. "It is something that takes time to treat and get under control, but what really happens is that you are changed for life when you are exposed to a very traumatic situation. You become hypersensitive to a number of situations, but what the treatments do is try to get the collaboration to what it is suppose to be, or what it was before," he explained.
The increase in violent acts is affecting children worldwide. A recent World Health Organisation study found that some 40 million children under age 15 are subject to abuse and neglect each year.
Meanwhile, a UNICEF report on the State of the World's Children indicated that in the 1990s, two million children were killed, six million were seriously injured or permanently disabled, and 12 million were left homeless. In addition, during the last decade of the 20th century, more than one million children were orphaned or separated from their families.
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that research had shown that children who lived with violence were likely to become highly traumatised or violent.
