Trauma and Loss
While trauma and loss is a sad reality of life, hard times seem to have become epidemic for many families and communities in recent years. Between 2007 and 2010, the average U.S. family lost 40 percent of its wealth. Home foreclosures, job losses, and the resulting rise in food insecurity leave more families relying on the social safety net of public services and charities. Natural disasters, like hurricanes and wildfires, displace families and cause devastating destruction to communities.
Although our schools are among the safest places for children, we know all too well that tragedy and violence doesn’t stop at the schoolhouse doors. School staff members often must act as first responders when faced with violence in schools and are not immune to the effects of these traumas.
Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Growth
More than 75 percent of us will experience one or more traumatic events in our lifetimes and will likely experience stress symptoms as a result. Stress symptoms are a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. We human beings have an amazing capacity for resilience, and research shows most people feel and function better over time. For most people, the symptoms of stress will lessen or disappear entirely.
Some will develop acute stress disorder, a temporary disorder with symptoms similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that occurs within four weeks of a traumatic event and lasts at least two days but no more than four weeks. When the normal post-trauma stress response persists for over a month or do not go away over time, the diagnosis may be PTSD.
No more than 10 percent of those who experience traumatic events will develop PTSD. But, encouragingly, most people who do develop PTSD experience some degree of recovery including a reduction in symptoms and a restoration of capacity to function.
Schools: Helping Make Communities Resilient
A connection to school is one of the most significant protective factors in children’s lives, helping them develop resilience. Resilience refers to our tendency to cope with stress and is commonly understood as a process rather than a character or personality trait. In addition to developing individual coping mechanisms, children’s positive connections to people in school—teachers, administrators, and their peers—can help promote resilience.
Educators contribute local leadership to families and communities when they have been challenged by traumatic events. We provide structure and reassuring routines as well as responsive and supportive relationships. Additionally, educators provide needed services and essential, tangible support in the form of services such as school nutrition programs.
This school connection to educators and other school personnel such as counselors is not only a key protective factor in the lives of children, but also for their families and other members of our communities.
To best accomplish this very significant contribution, we school staff members must also build resilience by taking exceptionally good care of ourselves first so we have the available mental, emotional, and physical resources to help our students and colleagues.
While this advice might sound selfish on its face, one way to think about it is like a flight attendant’s instructions to put on our own oxygen masks first before helping others. If you are suffering from PTSD (or think you may be) or other stress symptoms as a result of school violence or other trauma, you owe it to yourself, your students, and your colleagues to get help. Treatments including counseling and, in some cases, medication can make all the difference. There is hope for recovery.
NEA HIN is providing information and is not endorsing or recommending any specific treatment. Consult your health care provider or a qualified mental health professional to determine what is appropriate for you.