To each his own mode of expression, but in all cases, the scene is experienced intensely. “Between 2 and 5 years old, a child is very sensitive to his environment. He does not yet benefit from the psychological protection locks put in place around 6-7 years old, during the latency period (when the impulses subside), when the child puts his questions about sexuality on hold for s. ‘open up to the world around him. And life events can mark him very deeply, ”explains psychologist Élisabeth Doyon. If he’s crying, screaming, or panicking, that’s pretty good, because he’s not burying emotions that otherwise might come back later.
If he seems indifferent, this is where you have to be vigilant. He is perhaps in a state of shock and does not manage to externalize what he is feeling. It is also possible that he does not feel authorized to do so, when the adults around him are themselves too weakened by the event or insensitive to what is happening. The child feels that he cannot get help from them and keeps everything to himself.
Talk about it to play down
The ideal would be to bounce back hot after a potentially impressive episode. But the child must be allowed time to digest it. The next day, he is clearly explained the situation and invited to express what he felt at that time. If the child avoids the discussion, we come back to it later, in a roundabout way, using books, for example. But sometimes, we are led to react a long time later and, in this case, we have to give it the pole. When the symptoms of his anxiety persist, especially if the child is also experiencing a complex family situation, a move or a birth, the help of a psychologist is useful to allow the child to free himself.
A sometimes delayed reaction
The traumatic event can go almost unnoticed, as the child seems detached from the situation. But some time later, the episode catches up with him. Depending on the case, he begins to be aggressive or to draw disturbing pictures. He becomes fascinated by stories about ghosts, wolves… and may develop phobias. Sometimes he can’t fall asleep or wakes up in a panic. These manifestations do not necessarily signal trauma. But we can try to take stock by going back over the course of events and trying to establish cause and effect links.
