Global Trauma & 6 Ways to Protect Your Family’s Mental Health
Bearing witness to the violence, climate change, and suffering in the world makes most of us feel helpless, powerless, and frustrated. When you scroll through social media or watch the news, you are exposed to all that is going wrong both locally and on a global scale. You want to look away from the hardship and agony. At the same time, you may feel callous when you distance yourself by looking away from the news, turning off your TV, or putting down your phone. You may question how anything you do to help can possibly make a difference. You feel anger at the most powerful nations in the world as the problems continue. You question all you have known about faith, human rights, and the future. For children and teenagers who now have as much access to news as adults, this can lead to fear, confusion, and anxiety.
Impact on Your Mental Wellbeing
Bearing witness to trauma, in whichever form, can take a toll on your mental health.
We have psychological responses to distressing images. They can become intrusive thoughts, which are unwanted thoughts that keep popping up or replaying in our minds. For some people, this can lead to anxiety, feelings of sadness, and depression. Social media has made the consumption of these kinds of images accessible to people of all ages. Before, visually disturbing images and videos were filtered for harmful content through news outlets. However, now social media has made all kinds of visuals easily available.
Viewing disturbing news and related images can also trigger underlying mental health conditions, trauma responses, and exacerbate existing conditions.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Family’s Mental Health
Limit time spent with the news
While it is important to stay informed, you and your family do need a break from the consumption of upsetting news. Set time limits for reading or watching news about disturbing events. You may choose one specific form of news that is easier to process, such as reading the newspaper. Agree as a family to take in any news around a difficult subject together. Ensure that you are receiving your information from reliable sources or outlets. Teach your children how to assess whether a source is reliable.
Have a Conversation
Talk with your children about world events and how they are being reported. Get them to tell you what they know about an issue. Ask them how it makes them feel and reassure them of their safety if possible. Explain things clearly and in an age-appropriate way. You are the best judge of how much your child can handle. In some instances, you may have to explain the context and give your child some perspective. It is okay for you to tell your child you do not know the answer to a question.
When your child expresses their concerns to you, try to avoid diminishing their fears by saying things like, “Don’t be silly, that won’t happen.” Instead, tell them that you are there to make sure they are safe. You can also tell them that as many people as there are doing wrong in the world, there are more people working towards good. Make sure you tell your child that there is someone taking care of the problem.
Regulate Your Responses
Before talking with your child about disturbing news, you must first look after yourself and work through your response to it. You can do this by learning more about it and what, if anything, is being done to fix the problem. You can also talk to another adult or even a counselor to process how you feel. Children often look at how we react to a stimulus in order to gauge how they should feel about it. Your children will be observing your responses. They will absorb the language and tone you use about a particular subject, whether they understand it fully or not.
It is tricky to talk with your child about serious societal or global issues, particularly those that there seem to be no immediate solution to. You can model certain traits for your child that will equip them to better handle the news they come across. For example, show your child the reliable sources you get your information from. Demonstrate how you question what you are consuming, and whether there is more to it than what is being shown. Show them how to gain knowledge outside of school books. Engage your child in acts of kindness and compassion. Let them see you respond with empathy towards yourself and others.
Encourage Empathy
It can be tempting to classify groups into good and bad. However, it is more beneficial to instill empathy in your child. For example, encourage your child to feel compassion for those who are displaced due to natural disaster, or for people who have lost their homes due to conflict. You and your child can make a small donation towards a charitable cause. This is compassion in action, and can make your child feel like they are helping in some way.
You can also teach your child about empathy and reassure them that there are people who are trying to help. Tell them about specific charitable organizations, first responders, and young people that are advocating for peace, a clean planet, or human rights. If possible, take them to meet people in your community that are working to effect change. When your child sees a young person like them taking part in a humanitarian effort, they will understand that anyone can help.
Give them a Sense of Hope
Parents should have honest, age-appropriate conversations with their children about distressing topics that may come up. But instead of having your children believe they have to fear the world, highlight the good that is out there.
As mentioned before, you can tell your child about humanitarian organizations. Let them know there are people in every country, from all backgrounds, that are constantly trying to improve things for others. Be sure to also focus on those projects that have achieved positive end results and made a difference. Your child should know that there is actionable positivity that they can be a part of. Many young children are naturally optimistic about how things will turn out, but still often need some reassurance and a renewed sense of hope.
Be Aware of Symptoms
Continue to check in with your child. At times, one conversation may not be enough to allay fears or anxiety. Adolescents can go through intense anger and grief. They may need assistance in processing their emotions as they may not be able to identify the root cause by themselves. Anxiety can present differently in adults and children. Below are signs and symptoms to be aware of.
Signs of anxiety in adults
Persistent, intense worry or fear
Fatigue
Disturbances in sleep patterns
Nervousness, on edge
Feeling faint
Nausea and butterflies
Racing thoughts
Rapid heartbeat and breathing
Digestive issues
Signs of anxiety in adolescents
Irritability
Disturbance in sleep patterns
Intrusive worries or fears
Stomach pain, digestive problems
Restlessness, difficulty concentrating
Headaches, body aches
Signs of anxiety in children
Sleep problems
Stomachache, headache
Anger, irritability
Constant worry or fear
Not eating properly
Clinginess
If your child is unduly upset, or their distress lasts for a prolonged period of time, consider reaching out for professional support. Therapy for children and therapy for teens are effective mental health services that help young people make sense of their emotions. By talking with a mental health professional, your child or teen can work through their feelings, process their thoughts, and find a way to heal.
Trust Mental Health has a team of BIPOC therapists that offer therapy for children and therapy for teens in California. Our diverse team members speak over 16 languages between them. We are aware of the cultural nuances and sensitivities that clients from different backgrounds may have. This enables us to plan our therapeutic strategy for each client with a culturally considerate and intersectional approach.
FAQs
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Talking to your child about distressing world events can be challenging, but you should address their concerns and provide support. You can begin discussing age-appropriate topics when your child begins to ask questions, shows interest, or when you feel that they may have heard about an event. Tailor your conversations to their age and maturity level.
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It will be necessary to strike a balance. You don't need to expose them to graphic or upsetting images, but providing age-appropriate information and context can help them make sense of the world. Use age-appropriate language and concepts. Offer facts without overwhelming details.
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Encourage healthy coping mechanisms like talking, drawing, or writing about their feelings. Maintain routines, offer physical comfort, and spend quality time together. If your child is overly distressed or their distress persists, consider reaching out to a mental health professional.
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Choose a quiet, comfortable setting and ask open-ended questions like, "What have you heard about [event]?". Encourage critical thinking and empathy by asking questions like, "What do you think about this?" Reassure them about their safety and the measures in place to protect them. Provide a sense of security by explaining how you keep them safe.