Introduction
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition brought on by trauma. A trauma is a stressful event that makes a person fear for their or other people's life or safety. Trauma events that can lead to PTSD include physical or sexual abuse, assault, school or neighbourhood violence, natural disasters, car accidents, military combat, sudden loss, and more. An event can be a trauma for someone even if they don't go through the danger themselves. For example, seeing someone else be hurt or die from violence can be a trauma.
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Symptoms
Keep a lookout for some of the following signs of PTSD in your teenager:
Bad memories or flashbacks to the traumatic experience
Remembering or re-experiencing the event,
Increased nightmares or insomnia
Avoiding things or anyone associated with the trauma, increased anger and irritability
Changes in mood, such as feeling sad, moody, angry, or detached
Withdrawing from friends and experiences they used to enjoy
Feeling more easily scared, anxious, jumpy, or easily startled
Having difficulty in school, including trouble concentrating and completing work
Feeling numb or depressed
Not wanting to talk about the traumatic event
Easily triggered by things that remind them of the traumatic event
If you notice recurring instances of a few of these symptoms in your teenager, we at Skooc recommend a formal evaluation.
Diagnosis
At Skooc, we help you better understand what you and your teenager are going through. If you suspect your teen has PTSD, your first step is to get a diagnosis. You can do this by visiting their paediatrician, who may give you a referral to a mental health provider. If it's clear that your teen is experiencing PTSD, therapy will likely be recommended. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health counsellors have the experience to work with patients with PTSD. Treatment for PTSD can include therapy and/or medicines to help with anxiety, mood problems, and sleep issues.
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Next Steps and Intervention
Our team of professional psychologists at Skooc can help you and your family by providing the necessary interventions. Trauma therapists also guide parents on how to listen and show they understand.
Therapy for PTSD is called trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT). This type of talk therapy uses talking and learning activities, guided by a mental health therapist. It can help anyone who has been through a trauma, not just people with PTSD.
PTSD therapy often includes:
Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) activities: to help with thoughts and feelings about the trauma
Prolonged exposure (PE) activities: to help someone lower anxiety and learn to safely face things they avoid after trauma
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR): combined cognitive therapy with directed eye movements to reduce the power and pain of the trauma. This helps the brain reprocess memory of the trauma. There are therapists who specialize in this type of trauma therapy.
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Skooc has helped my daughter get into a great shape physically and mentally. She has lost more than 15 kgs and has improved her health metrics enough that she is no longer at risk of chronic diseases. The program worked with my daughter and me to help us understand how to correct what we were doing. Very importantly, Avi and I no longer fight over what she eats and what she does not.
My son has lost 15 kgs and I lost 10 kgs through the Skooc program. It was easily paced and did not ever restrict my child from eating anything that was essential. He had a balanced meal everyday and he and his counsellor agreed on a schedule that was easy for me to cook too. From a child who watched TV all the time and ate junk food, Ayaan is now an active child and a healthy eater who is very happy and confident with how he looks.
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My son suffered from constant digestive issues and obesity. He found it very difficult to run and play due to his thighs being very fat and also he suffered from pains in his knees, hips. He also had trouble breathing after even walking a small distance. We joined Skooc because we had tried to put Jay on a diet before and it had not worked. At Skooc, he dropped 24Kgs and is now a teenager who was healthily and works out everyday. I personally dropped 16Kgs and now we are both very close to entering our ideal weight zone