ABSTRACT
Unfortunately children and adolescents are not exempt from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. It is tempting for adults to minimise the distress of children, to acknowledge it means running the risk of feeling their pain and experiencing a sense of helplessness and powerlessness. Studies of children involved in natural disasters have shown that parents and teachers under-report symptoms of post-traumatic stress and that when children have been asked directly about any difficulties, a different picture tends to emerge. In part the non-identification of symptoms in children and adolescents may arise because the child does not wish to upset the adult. This may particularly be the case if the adult has been distressed by the same trauma.
