Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children of Kashmir and Role of Nurse.

Kashmir the paradise on earth has become a scapegoat due to sociopolitical unrest from last 2½ decades. This altercation has outrageously affected different aspects of Kashmir’s society. Undoubtedly there has been an immense damage to infrastructure; however its wallop can be felt and seen nowhere more than on the mental health of people of Kashmir. In other words, in Kashmir, mentalhealth has emerged as one of the most distressing public health concerns. The long standing controversy has caused Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among up to 90% people of the valley. And the worst part of this conflict is that it equally affected the psyche of children which are considered to be the future of every society. A Study conducted by Firdous found, that the most common horrifying events experienced by children are witnessing the killing of a close relative (49%), followed by witnessing the arrest and torture of a close relative (15%). Loss of parents, frequent dislocation and exposure to violence has led to an increase in pediatric psychopathology. 

As the children lack the cognitive capacities than that of adults and find it difficult to talk upon their traumatic experiences. They are unable to transform their internal conflicts and feelings into words, and are expressed in repetitive reduplications, interfering visual images, trauma specific fears, aggressive and regressive activities and other behavioral states. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), also called as a railway spine, nightmare, stress syndrome, shell shock, and the battle of fatigue and traumatic war that can develop after a person has sustained a traumatic event or has been subjected to or threatened with some serious physical harm. Children could be a victim of PTSD if they have lived through an event that could have caused them or someone else to be killed or badly hurt. Such events include assault, physical abuse, disasters such as floods, school shootings, car crashes, fires, a friend's suicide, violence or crimes in the area they live.(Read more)