POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS IN EARTHQUAKE CHILDREN

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26/07/17 - POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS IN EARTHQUAKE CHILDREN

Self reflection (private)

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Kathleen Liberty
Lit review
Post-traumatic stress disorder is common in kids after earthquakes - not just aftershocks but could included moving house, schools, insurance claims, flooding.
Biology - sensitive period for brain development can increase symptoms
amygdala - react to danger/reactive emotion, hippocampus and prefrontal cortext were likely to be affected by repeated exposure to traumatic events.
autonomic nervous system, breathing, digestion, heart rate, temperature etc - can affect headaches, stomach ache, bed wetting
chronic stress and high levels of cortisol create long-lasting brain changes.
after hurricane katrina - higher diagnosis of autism
A-E criteria
natural disasters are harder for kids to understand as there is no 'baddy'
Children were of the age when developing concepts of parameters of the world (Piaget) however the world constantly changes for these kids with each shake.
23% of kids post-quake had 8+ behaviour problems
2015 CHCH is far above the national failure rates for national standards
Why is it happening for so long after the quakes?
- effects continue to be persistent for a long time
- huge infrastructure damage, takes a much longer time to fix
- subsequent trauma added on after e.g. floods, asthma attacks from dust, fire, family deaths
- brain needs period of 'normal rearing', many kids had only 1 or 2 years of 'normality' before a long period of abnormal events. Kids don't have resources and experiences of dealing with trauma to deal with extended trauma.
PTSD is hard to treat, treatments for anxiety, ADHD, conduct disorder don't work even though this is the behaviour exhibited but they don't have those disorders.
Some interventions work in CBT sessions however once kids are back in the classroom lots of other kids with behaviour disorders spark them off again.
Language based interventions don't work, kids may have up to a two year language delay for processing language.
Bronfrenbrenner approach - micro vs meso system not individual child. Link to study notes on ASD
Body systems that have been affected take a long time to get well, it also takes time to adapt to change and new systems.

Strategies

Very long process, needs to be sustainable
Step 1:
information provided to parents, how to deal with it at home. Omega 3 Smart Bites recommended for kids - to replace mylin taken of neurons. Usually replaced during sleep but lots of these kids didn't sleep properly.
PD for teachers about impact of stress on kids
Wellbeing strategies for teachers and principals
changing classroom environments to reduce arousal levels
health and wellbeing strategies for kids

Classroom environment

- no hanging decorations
- reduce the amount of decorations
- eye level or below
- wall colour - pale blue is best
- light level, most learning problems need to sit closest to windows
- noise
- temperature

Classroom schedule

play eat learn - daily schedule. It still has to fit within a certain schedule
drink to think, think to drink hydration programme
specific snacks at certain times of day to replace autonomic nervous systems
increases teachability

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