{"id":4898,"date":"2012-03-16T11:24:53","date_gmt":"2012-03-16T15:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/?p=4898"},"modified":"2012-05-30T11:10:15","modified_gmt":"2012-05-30T15:10:15","slug":"recognizing-the-signs-of-trauma-in-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/2012\/03\/recognizing-the-signs-of-trauma-in-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognizing the signs of trauma in youth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo by Rachel Titiriga via Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you live or work with young people, it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ve felt their enthusiasm when a good idea catches their imagination, or listened to their laughter and banter as they hang out with friends.<\/p>\n

But you may also observe behaviors that concern you: irritability, anger, aggressiveness, withdrawal, feeling sad, substance abuse, cutting, or getting in trouble with the law.<\/p>\n

The root of distress in young people can be trauma, the result of experiencing or witnessing something that involves a threat to survival. Or the trauma can be from growing up in an unsafe environment where layers of trauma are undercurrents that can explode on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

Viewing young people\u2019s experiences and behaviors through a trauma lens provides a way of understanding them, and of knowing how to reach out in supportive ways.<\/p>\n

Big T and little t traumatic events<\/h3>\n

We tend to think of traumatic events as the dramatic Big Traumas,\u201d ongoing events such as war, or living under occupation or in a violent community or with an abusive parent; and one-time happenings like an accident where someone dies, or being raped, or seeing a murder.<\/p>\n

But young people are also impacted by \u201clittle t traumas,\u201d events that are often not recognized as threatening or traumatic by adults. These might include:<\/p>\n