Childhood trauma can have lasting effects through a child’s teenage years and adulthood. Unfortunately, trauma is frequently misunderstood and goes untreated. For many teens, childhood trauma can lead to cognitive issues, trouble in school, and addictive behaviors. The best way to help teens struggling with unprocessed trauma is through a trauma treatment program designed to help adolescent brain development.
If your teen is struggling with unprocessed trauma, PTSD, and triggers, Foothills at Red Oak Recovery can help. Our North Carolina-based program treated adolescent men with holistic approaches to mental health and addiction. Call us now at 866.300.5275 to learn more about the benefits of our trauma treatment program.
What Is Trauma?
Trauma seems hard to understand. However, trauma is simply an emotional, physical and psychological response to a life-threatening event. A near-death experience, sexual or physical abuse, natural disorder, or other traumatic event causes the body to release adrenaline, cortisol, and other chemicals to help it survive. This happens in the ancient part of the brain that once encouraged early humans to run from predators. When a person enters this flight, fight, or freeze mode, their body either processes these chemicals at the moment or stores them as traumatic memories. As the chemicals become trapped in the body’s tissues, a teen can develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Signs of Trauma in Teens and Young Adults
Traumatic events affect everyone differently. What may be traumatic to one person is quickly processed by another. Many teens can grow up suffering the effects of childhood trauma and do not know why they react the way they do. Symptoms of trauma include:
- Feeling on edge
- Emotional outbursts
- Self-medicating
- Feeling unsafe all the time
- Avoidance
- Strange responses to other’s actions
- Vivid nightmares
Trauma lowers a person’s stress tolerance. This means their body can go into fight, flight, or freeze easily. It is possible to reset the body’s ability to tolerate distress through trauma therapy.
Trauma and The Teenage Brain
Many people wonder how trauma changes their brain and affects developing adolescent brains. Trauma shuts down normal brain function, activating the sympathetic nervous system. This causes a fight, flight, or freeze and can change a person’s brain chemistry, which can be detrimental to teenagers because their brains are still developing. It can shrink the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for storing memories and telling memories from current events. Trauma also diminishes the prefrontal cortex’s ability to learn and retain new information. This can lead to trouble in school, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and confusion. Teens living with unprocessed trauma have trouble making logical choices, often live with irrational fears, and have trouble discerning threats from non-threats.
Start Treatment for Adolescent Trauma in North Carolina
Untreated trauma and prolonged stress can cause teenage brains to develop differently. The best way to help your child is through comprehensive, holistic trauma treatment. If your son or a young boy in your life is showing signs of trauma and developmental challenges, it’s time to call Foothills at Red Oak Recovery. Our team specializes in helping adolescent boys recover from trauma, mood disorders, disordered eating, and addiction. Based in beautiful North Carolina, we pair traditional therapies with equine-assisted therapy and adventure therapy for holistic healing.
Young teen boys at Foothills at Red Oak Recovery love spending time with our horses, walking the grounds, and engaging with their peers and loved ones through group and family therapy sessions.
Start Trauma Treatment at Foothills at Red Oak Recovery Today
Trauma may be complex, but it’s also treatable. Don’t let trauma take over your son’s life. Call Foothills at Red Oak Recovery today at 866.300.5275 to learn more about our programs and the effects of trauma on adolescent brain development.
