The younger a child is when they experience trauma, the greater the impact on the individual for the remainder of their life. The good news is that with the right support, traumatic experiences can be left behind as a memory with no emotion or fear attached.
Experiences that may be considered normal to an adult or older child can be traumatic for a younger child who has a less developed nervous system. It is a common misunderstanding that trauma is the result of the magnitude of an event however this is not the case. Trauma is not in the event itself, rather it resides within the nervous system (Levine & Kline, 2007). A persons vulnerability to trauma depends on a variety of factors particularly age and trauma history. The younger the child is at the age of experiencing trauma, the more likely they may be overwhelmed by what others may consider a common occurrence.
All of us have an instinctual part of our brain that keeps us attuned to danger. When we sense that our safety is at risk, we automatically activate an extraordinary amount of energy in order to prepare us for fight or flight. When this energy is not fully discharged or ‘used up’ it does not simply go away, instead it stays trapped creating the potential for traumatic symptoms.
The younger the child the fewer resources they have to protect themselves. A baby is completely dependent on their main caregiver to provide what they need, e.g food, warmth etc. Their only defense is their cry. When this is consistently not heeded, they go into a freeze state and they learn that their needs are not important and so they learn not to ask. Older children who experience fear, be it from violence in the home may have an instinctual need for fight or flight but are unable to as these options may put them in even more danger. So the child hides and typically will go into a freeze state.
When the brain sets a sensory motor impulse into motion but the limbs cannot move (for example in cases such as surgery or molestation) symptoms are likely to develop such as irritability, anxiety, ‘butterflies,’ numbness and so on. When the body can no longer bear the overwhelming feelings, it collapses into fearful resignation which is what any animal does in a situation where escape is impossible.
Often a traumatic experience is not associated with symptoms as they may arise some time afterward. Whilst consciously a child may not remember the incident, the body does not forget. Physiologically, the body needs to complete the incomplete sensory motor impulses that were activated before the body is able to return a state of relaxed alertness.
The most universal sources of possible traumatic reactions including falls, accidents and invasive medical procedures occur with such frequency that a conscious link between later symptoms and a precipitating incidents are rarely made.
How do we know that a child is traumatized? A child will carry on in life, some way, as if the event is still happening. Although memory may not consciously be connected to the event, the child’s play behaviour and physical complaints reveal their struggle to deal with internal turmoil.
Traumatic Triggers
Following is a summary of experiences that may be triggers of a traumatic reaction in children. Please note these are from the book entitled ‘Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes’ by Peter Levine and Maggie Kline, 2007
Accidents and Falls
- Falls (stairs, beds, highchairs)
- Sports injuries (from team sports, spills from bicycles, skateboards, skis etc)
- Car accidents (even at low speed)
- Near drowning and near suffocation
Medical & Surgical Procedures
Trauma in this category is more likely when children have been separated from their parents, frightened, restrained against their will and unprepared for what will happen to them.
- Surgery and medical procedures (stitches, needles, IV’s, exploratory exams)
- Dental procedures
- Life-threatening illnesses and high fevers
- Prolonged immobilization (casting, splinting, traction)
- Poisoning
- Fetal distress and birth complications (cord around neck, anesthesia, emergency caesarian, drugs and alcohol)
Violent Acts/Attacks
- Bullying (school, neighbourhood, siblings)
- Animal attacks (dog, snakebite)
- Family violence
- Witnessing violence (live & vicariously through video games and TV)
- Physical and sexual abuse and neglect
- War, displacement and its intergenerational effects
- Threat of terrorist attack
- Kidnapping
Loss
- Divorce
- Death of a loved one or pet
- Separation
- Being lost
- Possessions (home and other belongings following a disaster or theft)
Environmental Stressors
- Exposure to extreme temperatures
- Natural disasters (fires, floods, earthquakes etc)
- Sudden loud noises for babies and young children (arguments, violence, thunder – especially if left alone).
What happens from the fetal period until 2 years of age creates the blueprint that influences every system in the body from immunity to the expression and regulation of emotion, to the nervous system resilience, communication, intelligence and self-regulatory mechanisms such as temperature and hormone production.
- work to get kids to feel the sensations in their body which underlies feelings.
- dramatic play
- relaxing the instinctive part of the brain through fun exercises
- art, music and writing activities that build safety
- escape stories
- sensation body maps