Worried about PTSD in your student? Here’s what to look for and how to get help

Upon waking on Sunday morning, March 24, I was completely shocked and devastated to find that another member of the Parkland community — a student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — had committed suicide.

This marks the second suicide in the past week of students who initially survived the tragic school shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School on Feb. 14, 2018. As an MSD alumnus, a Parkland resident, and a child psychiatrist who has worked in the community, the shock of both the massacre and subsequent suicides has been nothing short of heart wrenching.

The Parkland community has been forever altered because of the horrific shooting and now, when we are trying to heal, we continue to lose precious lives in the aftermath.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time tragedy follows a school shooting. After the Columbine shooting, there were almost as many suicides as there were students killed in the actual massacre. Now, only a year after the March for Our Lives campaign in Washington, we have two more people taking their own lives — a young woman who was a recent graduate of the high school and a boy who was a current sophomore.

How many more innocent children are quietly suffering and not getting the help that they desperately need? Suicide is the second-most common cause of death for children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 24. It is important to note that the majority of those who attempt or actually commit suicide have a significant mental health disorder such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

As a community, we need to be talking openly about PTSD in children with the community, students, teachers, and families to ensure that everyone is aware of warning signs and emotional cries for help. Any child or adolescent (or adult) who experiences a catastrophic event can develop PTSD; the shooting at MSD absolutely qualifies as a catastrophic event.

The risk of PTSD is related to the seriousness of the trauma, the proximity to the trauma, and the relationship one may have had with the victims. Anniversaries can often serve as triggers to underlying emotions.

In addition to anger and sadness over the shooting, some survivors may also develop fear and have a sense of helplessness. Some kids who experience repeated trauma can develop dissociation, an emotional numbing that blocks out the pain.

It is highly likely that many of the students attending MSD endure repeated trauma because they see the building where the shooting occurred every single school day. Even though the building is no longer in use, its sheer presence can trigger trauma for both students and teachers.

Often, survivors of traumatic events can simply avoid situations or places that remind them of the trauma. However, since school is an integral part of a teenager’s life, it is almost impossible to avoid the horrific site where the shootings took place, unless they change schools or no longer attend school. If children and teens do not seek medical attention for their PTSD, they can become less emotionally responsive, depressed, withdrawn, or detached.

If parents or teachers believe that a student may be experiencing PTSD, symptoms to be aware of can include:

▪ Frequently worrying about dying

▪ Losing interest in activities they previously enjoyed

▪ Physical symptoms like headaches/stomach aches

▪ Problems falling and/or staying asleep

▪ Being irritable or having anger outbursts

▪ Problems focusing/concentrating at school — grades declining

▪ Regressing — acting younger than their age (separation anxiety, school refusal, thumb sucking)

▪ Showing increased alertness to the environment

▪ Having vivid or frequent nightmares/flashbacks/memories of the traumatic event

Early intervention is key. Helping children, teachers, and families feel safe is of the utmost importance when dealing with trauma. Unfortunately, it seems as though many students and families are continuing to suffer in silence.

Many of the aforementioned symptoms of PTSD may also be signs of depression, which students and faculty at MSD may also be suffering from. Often, teenagers feel confused and/or embarrassed by their feelings and may try to hide them from caring adults.

Part of our job as mental health professionals is to make communication nonthreatening. Parents and teachers need to keep lines of communication open by talking to their children, asking about how they are feeling, and gauging if they seem sad or depressed.

Adults should never be afraid to ask their children if they are having thoughts of suicide. This will not put the thought into their head, but rather, will help to determine if their child needs urgent psychiatric assistance.

If you think that your child is depressed or suffering from PTSD, please seek help. Speak to your child’s pediatrician, a school counselor, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist.

If your child is experiencing suicidal thoughts, this should be considered an emergency and they should be evaluated by a mental health professional as soon as possible. The long-term goal should be to get these children and families the resources and help that they so desperately need.

The University of Miami Health System’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is dedicated to helping the Parkland community. If you or your child need help, contact Patty Galvis at 305-355-9021 or 305-213-5688.

This story was originally published March 25, 2019 at 11:02 PM.