Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters: What Rescue Workers Can Do - Help Children Cope with Trauma

Written by NIMH

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Children experience trauma differently. It is difficult to tell how many will develop mental health problems. Some trauma survivors get better with only good support. Others need counseling by a mental health professional.

If, after a month in a safe environment:

Children are not able to perform normal routines
New symptoms develop

Then, contact a health professional.

Some people are more sensitive to trauma. Factors influencing how one may respond include:

Being directly involved in the trauma, especially as a victim
Severe and/or prolonged exposure to the event
Personal history of prior trauma
Family or personal history of mental illness and severe behavior problems
Lack of social support
Lack of caring family and friends
On-going life stressors such as moving to a new home, or new school, divorce, job change, financial troubles.

Some symptoms may require immediate attention. Contact a mental health professional if these symptoms occur:

Flashbacks
Racing heart and sweating
Being easily startled
Being emotionally numb
Being very sad or depressed
Thoughts or actions to end life

Additional Resources

Individuals and organizations can obtain publications about stress and anxiety disorders, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), from NIMH. Call the information service at 1-866-615-6464 (toll-free) or 1-866-415-8051 (TTY toll-free). Information is also online at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/anxietymenu.cfm.

The list below includes other government agencies that may have additional information on helping children and adolescents cope with violence and disasters:

1) Center for Mental Health Services
Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Branch
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 17C-20
Rockville, MD 20857
Email: ken@mentalhealth.org
Web site: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/KEN95-0011/default.asp

2) U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: 1-800-USA-LEARN
TTY: 1-800-437-0833
Email: customerservice@inet.ed.gov
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

3) U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
Web site: http://www.usdoj.gov/

4) Federal Emergency Management Agency
(Information for children and adolescents)
P.O. Box 2012
Jessup, MD 20794-2012
Phone: 1-800-480-2520
Web site: http://www.fema.gov/kids