All of us face some stress in our daily lives -- getting a bad grade on a test, being teased by friends in front of someone we're trying to impress, getting lost in an unfamiliar city. Most of the time we feel a little discomfort when we experience stressful periods, but once we have come out on the other side in one piece, we put the event and the uneasy feelings behind us.
Occasionally, though, the stressors in our lives can be so intense and emotionally shocking that they leave lasting psychological scars. Stressors of this degree are called traumas. Before a person can be diagnosed as having PTSD, he or she must experience a trauma. Some mental-health professionals call PTSD a natural reaction to an unnatural situation. It is made up of a set of symptoms which make life difficult for the trauma victim and those close to him or her.
Many young people experience trauma:
Some young people who have PTSD, develop the disorder from living with a parent who has PTSD. The parent's symptoms such as rage, low impulse control and inability to form close relationships, place intense stress on his or her child. The Veterans' Administration, or VA, calls family members who are the secondary trauma victims from World War II, Vietnam and Desert Storm, collateral.
Straight Talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by Kay Marie Porterfield provides clear and helpful information for teenagers about why and how PTSD occurs, how they can recognize it in themselves and how to heal from the aftermath of trauma. It is the only book for young readers on PTSD.