When animals attack, some children might develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
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Some people suffer from PTSD after experiencing an event that puts them or another person in danger, such as a car accident or assault. People with PTSD often have disturbing memories and dreams of that event that may interfere with their everyday lives. Many children will have trouble returning to normal after a traumatic event but may not be disturbed enough to get diagnosed with PTSD.
However, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children after animal attacks has always been underestimated, and a more-detailed study of PTSD in children after animal attacks is needed. To determine the correlation between post traumatic stress disorder and animal bites, researchers studied 358 Chinese children aged between 5-17 years who came into the emergency room of the hospital after being attacked by an animal. Most of the children had dog bites, but some had been bitten by cats, rabbits, rats, or guinea pigs.
The children were followed for the symptoms of PTSD and similar conditions when they came to the emergency room, as well as one week and three months later. Researchers employed methods like questionnaire, telephonic interview and face to face interview for gathering information.
After a follow up of three months, it was found that 19 of the 358 children were diagnosed with PTSD. Children who had been hospitalised for severe bites were most at risk for the disorder - 10 out of 38 of them had developed PTSD.
It was concluded that children who are victims of severe animal attacks are at a risk for the development of PTSD and family support alone may not be enough to help them cope with the event.
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