RHS portlet MHH - Join HH

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RHS portlet MHH - who's who

Who's who

Find out who's who in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

RHS portlet MHH - Glossary

Glossary

Don't know what that word means?

Take a look in our glossary

RHS portlet MHH - what yp found helps

What young people have found helps them

Research and tests are useful, but it won’t tell us everything. Here are some positive things that young people say help them when they are feeling sad or worried.

  • Talking to their pet
  • Eating nice food or chocolate
  • Having a hug
  • Listening to music
  • Writing things down
  • Go for a run
  • Make a list of all the things to look forward to in the future

What we think

We agree that there are things that we can all do to help ourselves. Having a good diet, exercise, and feeling that people understand and care for us can all help. But, there might be times when we need more help.

 

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Trauma or traumatic is used in everyday language to mean any stressful event. Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD refers specifically to extremely traumatic or life threatening events.

If something extremely stressful or traumatic happens to us or we see it happening to someone else, it can affect us mentally and physically. There are many reasons why people might get PTSD, but it usually happens when people experience something that makes them feel really frightened, helpless, or feel like they might die.  For instance, they may have been in a serious accident, or they have been abused or raped. It is important to remember that most people recover from such events without developing PTSD.

People with PTSD often keep remembering the traumatic event.  They might have lots of nightmares. They might relive the traumatic experience and have flashbacks. Younger children can also have PTSD, but instead of vividly remembering the event and having flashback, they might re-enact the experience through play, have unpleasant dreams, or have problems sleeping.

These problems can start to happen quite soon after the traumatic event, or they might only start to happen a while after the event. If you have very serious problems you should get help straight away.

How you might feel or behave

You might start to feel and behave differently to how you would normally do.  For instance, you might start to feel more irritable and angry, be more anxious or you might have difficulty sleeping. If something traumatic happens to you and you notice a change in the way you feel and behave, you should talk to someone you trust. This could be a friend, your parents, school counsellor, or your GP. You might find yourself avoiding places, people or events that remind them of the traumatic event and this might interfere with you getting on with your life.

What you can do?

If something traumatic has happened to you, and if after a month you keep on having problems such as having a nightmare that is probably connected to the event, or you have had flashbacks then you should get some help. You should go to your GP, who can arrange for you to see a doctor or therapist who specialises in PTSD.

If you have very serious problems then you should go to your GP straight away. (this sentence needs to be in a box as a general statement)

What the NICE guideline says helps

When you see the specialist in PTSD, they will probably ask you questions about you and your difficulties. This will help them understand you and what is most likely to help. 

The types of help you are most likely to be offered

You should be offered practical help and support to help you cope just after you have had a traumatic experience – for example information about PTSD and where to go for help if it does develop.

If you do develop PTSD you may be offered a special type of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), which focuses on the memories, thoughts and feelings that people have that are connected to the traumatic event. You may be offered this if your problems are quite severe, and it is a month after the event.

Another type of help is Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). This type of help also focuses on the memories, thoughts and feelings connected to the traumatic event.

Both of these types of help are known as psychological therapies, and aim to help you think about the bad memories in a different way and come to terms with them.  This can be very upsetting, so you should also be given help to cope with all these difficult feelings.

What you shouldn’t be offered

Normally you shouldn’t be offered a single session of a psychological therapy (something called debriefing) just after the traumatic incident.  This is because researchers have found that it can make the problems worse.

You shouldn’t normally be offered medication.  If your doctor or the person looking after you suggests you take medicine, ask them why they think it will help you.

Further information

 

What is Nice?

NICE stands for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. It is an organisation which gives people advice about health and treatment

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