[THEME MUSIC] Fire brigade. Yeah, hello. Hi. There is a fire at 16, Grenfell Tower. The fire brigade are on their way. At the time, I was underneath the tower with everyone in the community, was all just watching it burn down because we couldn't do anything but watch it. It had a massive impact on me because I knew A , handful of people in the tower, and some of them were my friends. Some of them, we went to school together. We was in the same year, same classrooms. And it was obviously very hard for me to take in that my friends were gone and that's been stuck with me ever since. It's something that you can never forget. And literally, we're in an environment where everywhere you go, it's Grenfell. So you can't really forget about that. And you know people that were there, you know people that seen it. So it was a very scary moment for all of us. Hello. I'm Dr. Sian Williams, I'm a chartered psychologist working in the NHS to help people manage traumatic stress. And I'm also a journalist, and I've seen the impact of trauma on others. But in this film, we're looking at how children react to traumatic experiences and how we can help. [MUSIC PLAYING] So what kind of experiences may trigger a traumatic response in children? Well, the key word there is may. Because a child might experience something harrowing and not have any long-term difficulties. Most people, including children, will have some kind of reaction to a traumatic event, but these should settle down over time. The kinds of events we're talking about might include witnessing violence, the sudden or violent loss of a loved one, a serious accident or life-threatening illness, physical, sexual, or psychological abuse and neglect, and refugee and war experiences. Any one of these events can trigger a traumatic response. So at a young age, my mum left me to go to Ghana, moved to Ghana, and I had to go and live with my dad who was quite verbally abusive. That led to me having anxiety, depression, engaging in self-harm at times as well at a young age, as 12, 13. I felt like it was the end of the world. I have very, very vivid memories-- very vivid memories. It plays back a lot, very often. The overthinking, I would say, is one of the main things of trauma. You'd overthink the worst when it comes to going through traumas and you just basically doubt yourself-- Am I good enough for this? Did I do good? The way that children and young people respond to trauma can take many different forms. And it's worth saying initially that immediately following traumatic events, most children, young people, will be distressed and have some difficulties. But over the days, weeks, and months that follow, very many of them will recover and that distress and those difficulties will reduce. However, for some of them, those difficulties will continue and endure. The sorts of changes and difficulties we're talking about would be things like intrusive memories. So memories for traumatic events are different to memories for normal events. They may intrude through their nightmares, they may come out in their play, and they may suddenly find themselves thinking about those things just during an ordinary, everyday activity. It gives me flashbacks every time I see traumatic events on television, and anytime I hear a certain sound that resonates with a fire alarm or a fire engine. Or if I see certain lights like blue and red lights flashing, it will trigger the trauma again. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a particular way of thinking about reactions to traumatic events. It includes a number of different symptoms. Some symptoms to do with re-experiencing the actual event as if it was happening again in the here and now. Some symptoms to do with avoidance-- so people avoid thoughts and feelings about it. And a sense of current threat. Complex PTSD consists of the same symptoms as PTSD, plus some additional difficulties. Difficulties managing their feelings. So it might be that they lose their temper very easily. They may dissociate, which is really where they check out of their bodies because things are so overwhelming that in their minds, they go elsewhere. They might start to feel very worthless or defeated, and they might feel very guilty and responsible for what happened. When children face traumatic stress like abuse and neglect, their brain reacts. Put simply, our amygdala triggers our alarm system and alerts us to danger. But it's not great at discriminating and it can get stuck on overdrive. If it does this, it can affect other brain structures like the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. These are vital in processing memory and regulating emotion. If our threat system is overactive, these can't work as well. And that affects our thinking, decision making, and means memories might be stored in the wrong place. That is why traumatic experiences might feel like they're happening again-- the past affecting the present. Young people are more often to replay it in their heads. And obviously, some of them are very scared, they don't want to reach out. Trauma also affects the body. When a traumatic event happens, the body can go into fight, flight, freeze, faint, or submit. When the alarm system is triggered, our body releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Our heart rate pumps faster to get more blood to our muscles to help us run, or it may drop. After a perceived threat is over, the nervous system usually returns to normal. This is called the window of tolerance. It means that a child can tolerate stress and think and manage their emotions at the same time. So while they might experience anger or fear, they can still help calm themselves down. Outside this window of tolerance, the thinking doesn't work so well. [MUSIC PLAYING] Many children and young people who have experienced traumatic events will start by experiencing high levels of distress and difficulties, but many of them actually will recover, and that distress and difficulties will lessen over time. And there are things that we can do as the adults around the children and young people to really aid and support that recovery. The first thing we can do is help them to feel safe, help them to feel calm. The difficulty is that the experiences they've had have made them feel unsafe. So how can we recreate that sense of safety for them? The second thing we can do is to help them to feel connected to other people. That sense of connection and social support can really help people to recover following traumatic events. Adults and the teachers around me, they would encourage my friends to also be there as a comfort around me, like a circle, to just help me feel much better and to just continue to push through difficult times. Going to group therapy has helped me deal with my trauma, because I'm in a group and I'm in the group with the people that have seen Grenfell Tower burn down as well. I've lived within my community so we can all relate to each other, and you feel less stressed out and you feel like you're not in it alone. The third thing we can do is to help them have a sense of agency. And what I mean by that is help them believe that they can make decisions and have control over things that are going to positively benefit their lives. And the final thing is try to instil a sense of hope. So not to pretend that the bad things didn't happen, but help them to look forwards with a positive outlook. It's normal to go through something and still think about it. I should definitely recommend going to group therapies, one-on-ones, because keeping it inside of you will only make things worse. And at night, some people can't go to sleep, so it really affects you on a day-to-day basis. Young people should speak to someone if they're going through something, because if they don't, it could overwhelm them, and especially because they're so young. I believe that the experience that I went through as a child-- trauma-- it wasn't an experience just for myself, it was an experience for me to be an example to other young people, which may experience it in the future, so that I can use my story to inspire them, to show them that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that there is hope as well. They don't have to remain in that space of trauma, and that with the right help, the right support network they can be able to overcome. And enjoy their life and not remain in that dark space, but just blossom in the light, eventually. Every child will react differently to something traumatic. And while we as parents, carers, and teachers can help, sometimes we need that little bit of extra support. For more information, do download our fact sheets. [THEME MUSIC]