PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) in Children

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on May 4, 2025.

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PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic situation or event. Your child may have seen the situation or event, or experienced it. Your child may continue to feel sad or helpless after the event. Your child may feel anxious or scared, even when he or she is not in danger. These feelings can affect your child's daily activities and relationships.

DISCHARGE INSTRUCTIONS:

Call your local emergency number (911 in the US) if:

• Your child does something on purpose to hurt himself or herself.
• Your child has thoughts of or makes a plan to attempt suicide.

Call your child's doctor or therapist if:

• Your child continues to have symptoms for more than 1 month.
• Your child's symptoms become severe.
• Your child is not sleeping well or is sleeping too much.
• You feel you cannot help your child at home.
• You have questions or concerns about your child's condition or care.

Medicines:

• Medicines may decrease anxiety or depression, or help your child stay calm and relaxed.
• Give your child's medicine as directed. Contact your child's healthcare provider if you think the medicine is not working as expected. Tell the provider if your child is allergic to any medicine. Keep a current list of the medicines, vitamins, and herbs your child takes. Include the amounts, and when, how, and why they are taken. Bring the list or the medicines in their containers to follow-up visits. Carry your child's medicine list with you in case of an emergency.

Drugs used to treat this and similar conditions

Treatment options

The following list of medications are related to or used in the treatment of this condition.

• Prozac
• Celexa
• prazosin
• Zoloft
• sertraline

Therapy

may be done in a group or one on one with a therapist. Family and friends are also an important part of recovery.

• Cognitive behavior therapy can help your child learn to face the traumatic situation or event slowly and carefully. A therapist can help your child learn to control his or her mental and physical reaction. The therapist may also teach your child ways to relax muscles or do slow breathing when he or she feels anxious.
• Cognitive processing therapy can help your child identify how the trauma changed his or her thoughts and feelings. A therapist can help your child see the event differently. This may help change how your child feels and decrease his or her anxiety.
• Exposure therapy , or prolonged exposure, gradually exposes your child to the trauma in a safe way. A therapist may help your child write, imagine, or visit the place where the event happened. This can help your child learn how to handle his or her thoughts and feelings.
• Play therapy can help your child express his or her thoughts and feelings through play.
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of exposure therapy. Providers help your child focus on sounds, or hand or eye movements. This helps your child's brain process the difficult memories.

What you can do to help your child:

• Talk openly about what happened and listen to your child's worries.
• Teach people who are close to your child about PTSD, including his or her teacher. Work together to help your child.

Find support and more information:

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
  PO Box 2345
  Rockville , MD 20847-2345
  Phone: 1- 800 - 988
  Web Address: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org OR https://988lifeline.org/chat/
  

• Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
  8120 Penn Ave. S., Ste. 470
  Bloomington , Minnesota 55431
  Phone: 1- 952 - 946-7998
  Web Address: http://www.save.org or https://save.org/find-help/international-resources/
  

Follow up with your child's doctor or therapist as directed:

Write down your questions so you remember to ask them during your visits.

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The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.

Further information

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

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