Teens with PTSD

Does Your Teen Struggle With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Searching for therapeutic boarding schools that focus on helping your teen struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Learn about how our programs for troubled youth can help your teen. While your teen enrolls in our Utah residential treatment center for counseling, treatment, and improving academic/life skills, Diamond Ranch also helps students struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder improve their mental and physical health.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Teens

“Many people will experience traumatic events in their lives, including children and teens. Some researchers estimate that as many as 40% of children and adolescents will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. While most people are able to “bounce back” from the event after a few days, weeks, or months, others struggle to cope with the experience and the memory of the trauma. These people, including children and teens, can develop what is known as PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” “Traumatic events often include physical violence, an accident, a natural disaster, war, or sexual abuse. Children or teens may have experienced these events themselves, or they may have witnessed them happen to someone else.”

Common PTSD Symptoms in Teens

Avoiding situations that make them recall the traumatic event
Experiencing nightmares or flashbacks about the trauma
Playing in a way that repeats or recalls the trauma
Acting impulsively or aggressively
Feeling nervous or anxious frequently
Experiencing emotional numbness
Having trouble focusing at school

Here are some other examples of PTSD symptoms your teen may have experienced:

Children under 6 may get upset if their parents are not close by, have trouble sleeping, or act out the trauma in their play.
Children ages 7 to 11 may also act out the trauma through play, drawings, or stories. Some have nightmares or become more irritable or aggressive. They may also want to avoid school or have trouble with schoolwork or friends.
Children ages 12 to 18 have symptoms more similar to adults: depression, anxiety, withdrawal, or reckless behavior like substance abuse or running away.

Treating PTSD in Teens

Here are some common treatment options for teens with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy – A trauma-focused CBT therapist helps the student identify and correct irrational or illogical thoughts they might have about the trauma itself or people and situations they encounter in everyday life. CBT also typically includes psychoeducation about relaxation and coping techniques for stress.
Play therapy – This type of therapy can work especially well for younger teens who struggle to communicate their reactions to the trauma and understand what happened. Play therapists use art therapy, games, and other interventions to help your son process trauma and cope resiliently with life.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing – EMDR is a technique that incorporates guided eye movement exercises while a child recalls the traumatic event and works through cognitions and emotional responses they have about it.
Medication – There is no medication that “cures” PTSD, but sometimes antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication can help relieve symptoms in some children and teens while they are also seeing a therapist.

“PTSD symptoms frequently co-occur with other types of mental illness or lead to other issues with children and teens, including substance use, risky behaviors, and self-injury. These issues may need to be addressed in treatment as well to protect your child and help them achieve a full recovery.”

Diamond Ranch Academy Can Help Teens

With Borderline Personality Disorder

Our Utah residential treatment center believes the best therapy often happens outside of the office. Our therapists spend hours with the students playing basketball, going on hikes and any number of other activities. Our therapists are with the students day in and day out. We get to know them well, across multiple settings. This allows us to design therapeutic interventions that directly target specific challenges. As students learn to trust, they let their walls down. They are then able to work through their challenges without the power struggles and resistance. At Diamond Ranch, your son or daughter will form a close relationship with their therapist. Under the care and guidance of one of our trained professionals, your child will flourish.

Call Us Today (844) 916-3858

Sources: https://www.psycom.net/ptsd-in-children-and-adolescents https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/ptsd_basics.asp