post-traumatic stress disorder in israeli schoolchildren

8/18/2019 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Israeli Schoolchildren

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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN ISRAELI SCHOOLCHILDREN ?

+hile an indi)idual ma" e10erience PTSD and see. treatment 'or it the 0re)alence o'

communit"-$ide traumatic e10eriences ma.es it di''icult to 0in0oint $ho su''erers are and to

ensure the" are recei)in, 0ro0er treatment2 In 'act studies sho$ that most children $ho su''er

'rom 0osttraumatic stress s"m0toms 'ail to see. treatment and are not re'erred 'or 0s"chosocial

ser)ices !" 0arents or school 0ersonnel 6&ur$itch Sitterle (oun, = P'e''er!aum *>>*72

Interventions

There are t$o a00roaches to com!atin, PTSD tar,eted inter)entions and uni)ersal

inter)entions2 In tar,eted inter)entions 0atients are treated a$a" 'rom their natural en)ironments

and ,rou0ed in treatment $ith other 0atients led !" a 0ro'essional2 Uni)ersal a00roaches

ho$e)er deal $ith !uildin, resilienc" and stren,thenin, resources and co0in, s.ills rather than

dealin, $ith indi)idual traumatic e10eriences 6Ca0lan B:72

+hile the classic treatments 'or PTSD ma" include methods such as Co,niti)e

5eha)ioral Thera0" 6C5T7 and E"e Mo)ement Desensiti%ation and Re0rocessin, 6EMDR7 to

0rocess and re0rocess traumatic e)ents methods to address lar,er 0o0ulations ha)e !een

introduced into the Israeli school s"stem2 In 'act the school is seen as an ideal )enue to deli)er

mental health ser)ices since it minimi%es sti,ma and normali%es the 0rocess o' inter)entions

6P'e''er!uam et al2 *>>?72 A uni)ersal a00roach has !een 0re'erred in Israeli schools !ecause it

can ade9uatel" deal $ith the hi,h 0re)alence children $ith PTSD s"m0toms and enhances

students3 resilienc" to an on,oin, threat 6Pat-Horenc%". et al2 in 0ress72

School-$ide a00roaches are ,eared to$ards 0artici0ation 'rom students3 0arents and

'amilies ali.e !" assi,nin, home$or. and assi,nments that re9uire hel0 'rom all 0arties

in)ol)ed2 One 0ro,ram ERASE -Stress 6ES7 is desi,ned to deal $ith the 'ollo$in, set o' stress

mana,ement s.ills


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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN ISRAELI SCHOOLCHILDREN :

a7 Identi'"in, dail" stressors

!7 Teachin, co0in, s.ills

c7 De)elo0in, !od" a$areness 6somatic reactions7

d7 De)elo0in, strate,ies to control the !od" durin, stress'ul encounters

e7 Clari'"in, and !ecomin, a$are o' one3s emotions

'7 Sto00in, emotional 'loodin,

,7 Enhancin, one3s su00ort s"stem !" meetin, social needs and as.in, 'or hel0

h7 Re'ramin, ne,ati)e thou,ht 0atterns 0ositi)el"

Each o' these sessions in)ol)e 0arents and teach them co0in, s.ills such as !reathin,

mind'ulness and rela1ation 6&el.o0' *>>72 The results o' this 0ro,ram indicated that there $ere

si,ni'icant reductions in all s"m0toms o' PTSD and an1iet" le)els com0ared to the control

,rou02

A no)el a00roach !orro$in, 'rom EMDR methods has !een introduced !" an art

thera0ist Shachar 5ar 6*>>7 $ho has .inder,arten schoolchildren 0ractice sin,in, a son, a!out

runnin, 'or co)er 'rom roc.ets2 The l"rics 6translated to En,lish7 are

Color Red! Color Red!

Hurry, hurry, hurry, to a protected area

Hurry, Hurry because now it’s a bit dangerous

My heart is pounding, boom, ba-ba, boom, boom, boom

My body is shaking, doom, da-da doom, doom, doom

But I am oercoming

Because I am a little bit dierent

"#he impact"boom $ now we can get up

%ur body we shake, shake shake

%ur legs we loosen, loosen, loosen


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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN ISRAELI SCHOOLCHILDREN ;

Breathe deep, blow ar

Breathe deep, now we can laugh

It all passed and I’m glad it&s oer $ 'es!!

The son, is accom0anied !" hand and arm mo)ements that ,o in tandem $ith the l"rics-

such as 0oundin, one3s chest and crossin, the arms2 The son, hi,hli,hts that is o.a" to !e a'raid

and ,i)e le,itimi%ation to one3s 'ear2 5reathin, and lau,hter accom0an" the end o' the son, to

dis0el the an1iet" and release the tension2

Another e''ecti)e school inter)ention is Ps"cholo,ical First Aid 'or Schools 6PFA7 a

0ro,ram that is administered !" school sta'' a'ter a school-$ide traumatic e)ent 65a$e/a

atao.a Lan,le" Stein = +on, *>B*72 The ,oal o' the 0ro,ram is to teach .e" s.ills such as

a7 Protectin, sur)i)ors 'rom 'urther 0s"cholo,ical harm

!7 Identi'"in, those most distressed

c7 Returnin, to school and 'amiliar routinesd7 Facilitatin, communication amon, 'amilies students and communit" a,encies

e7 Educatin, those a''ected a!out the e10ecta!le 0s"cholo,ical res0onses and !asic co0in,

tools to stress'ul and traumatic e)ents

Some hel0'ul techni9ues 'or students include

a7 Co,niti)e restructurin, 4 a student mi,ht $rite do$n a cou0le o' hel0'ul thou,hts

on a small card to carr" around and 0ull out $hen intrusi)e thou,hts mi,ht !e ,ettin, in their

$a"2

!7 Rela1ation Trainin, 4 A student mi,ht tr" ratin, their 'eelin,s $ith a 8'eelin,

thermometer3 to use !e'ore and a'ter rela1ation e1ercises2

c7 Trauma Narrati)e 4 Pictures or stories are utili%ed !" readin, and recountin, the

traumatic memor"2 The stor" is re)ie$ed se)eral times to decrease the amount o' an1iet" it

0ro)o.es2


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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN ISRAELI SCHOOLCHILDREN @

d7 In Gi)o E10osure 4 Students can ma.e a list o' thin,s the" are a)oidin, and the"

are assi,ned one or t$o thin,s that can !e 0racticed each $ee. to do a,ain and cease

a)oidin,2

Discussion

Research has sho$n that 0rolon,ed e10osure to traumatic e)ents cause a !rea.-do$n o'

one3s natural resilience 4 e)en on a national le)el 65leich &el.o0' Melamed = Solomon *>>@72

Des0ite the ne,ati)e e''ects o' on,oin, trauma and the 0otential 'or PTSD s"m0toms there

e1ists a 0ositi)e outcome to the e10erience2 Researchers ha)e identi'ied 'i)e areas in $hich

su''erers o' PTSD ha)e e10erienced ,ro$th in a $a" that $as unattaina!le !e'ore the traumatic

e)ent2 This is re'erred to as Posttraumatic &ro$th2 The 'i)e areas are B7 Peo0le disco)er that

o00ortunities !ecome a)aila!le that $ere una)aila!le !e'ore2 *7 Peo0le disco)er indi)iduals that

the" share a stron, !ond $ith 4 0articularl" to$ard those $ho ha)e also e10erienced traumatic

e)ents2 ?7 Some e10erience a stron, sense o' resilience to$ard an" challen,in, situation2 :7

Some 'ind a ,reater and 'uller a00reciation o' li'e in ,eneral2 ;7 Some 'eel a dee0er s0iritual

connection in their li)es 4 o'ten accom0anied !" a chan,e in their set o' !elie's and )alues2

Re'erences

5a$e/a S2 Lan,le" A2 atao.a S2 Stein 52 = +on, M2 6*>B*72 Res0ondin, to students $ith PTSD

in schools2 Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 21617 BB-12


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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN ISRAELI SCHOOLCHILDREN

5leich A2 &el.o0' M2 = Solomon 2 6*>>?72 E10osure to terrorism stress-related mental health

s"m0toms and co0in, !eha)iors amon, a nationall" re0resentati)e sam0le in Israel2 Journal of

the American Medical Association 290 @B*4@*>2

Ehntholt 2 A2 Smith P2 A2 = (ule +2 6*>>;72 School-!ased co,niti)e4!eha)ioral thera0" ,rou0

inter)ention 'or re'u,ee children $ho ha)e e10erienced $ar-related trauma. Clinical Child

Psychology and Psychiatry 10 *?;4*;>2

Pat-Horenc%". R2 Do00let O2 Miron T2 Gilla (2 5rom D2 = Chemto! C2 M2 6*>>72 Ris.-ta.in,

!eha)iors amon, Israeli adolescents e10osed to recurrent terrorism2 American Journal of

Psychiatry 164 @@4*2

P'e''er!aum 52 Scon%o &2 M2 Fl"nn 52 +2 earns L2 #2 Dou,ht" D2 E2 &ur$itch R2 H2 Ni1on S2

#2 = Na$a% S2 6*>>?72 Case 'indin, and mental health ser)ices 'or children in the a'termath o'

the o.lahoma cit" !om!in,2 Journal of eha!ioral "ealth #er!ices and $esearch %0 *B;4**2

NATAL Israel2 6n2d272 Retrie)ed 'rom

htt0JJnatal2or,2ilJEn,lishJKCate,or"ID**
http://natal.org.il/English/?CategoryID=229http://natal.org.il/English/?CategoryID=229

post-traumatic stress disorder in israeli schoolchildren

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