How To Help Your Kids Cope After a Car Accident
According to the latest statistics, more than 465,000 children were involved in transportation accidents in the U.S. in one year alone, which shows just how at risk kids really are. Tragically, motor vehicle collisions are a leading cause of child fatalities in Georgia and throughout the country, while many more kids sustain moderate and life-changing injuries due to these types of accidents.
Being involved in any type of collision can be traumatic, particularly for children and young people. If your family has been affected by an incident on the road, take a look at these five tips for helping your kids cope after a car accident:
1. Be Ready to Listen
Encouraging your child to talk about their experience and fears can be beneficial, but don’t pressure them to talk until they are ready to do so. By making yourself available to listen whenever your child feels ready to confide in you, you can ensure that they feel able to share their worries and seek reassurance.
2. Look Out for ‘Red Flags’
It’s estimated that 39.2% of motor vehicle accident survivors in the U.S. develop post-traumatic stress disorder and many of these are children. Regressing to earlier behaviors, separation anxiety, social withdrawals, sleep problems, panic attacks, and psychosomatic illnesses can be indicative of PTSD in children, so keep an eye out for these behaviors and seek advice from a clinician if necessary.
3. Claim Compensation
Claiming compensation after a road traffic accident can help to ensure that you don’t suffer financially because of the incident, but it can also mean that justice is done. When you work with a car accident attorney to obtain compensation on behalf of your child, you can access the financial compensation they deserve and show them that the person responsible for the incident is being held to account.
4. Give Factual Information
Many people seek to protect children by withholding potentially uncomfortable or scary information, but this can sometimes do more harm than good. After a car accident, your child may have questions about risks, injuries, and death, and providing age-appropriate, factual information can help them to process what’s happened in a healthy way.
5. Maintain Your Routines
A regular routine can be extremely comforting for children, so try to get back to your usual schedule as quickly as possible after an accident has occurred. While some changes may need to be made if your child is recovering from an injury, maintaining as much routine as possible can be beneficial.
Coping with a Traffic Collision as a Family
When a child is affected by a traffic collision, it can have a substantial impact on their physical and emotional well-being. By seeking specialist help and working together as a family, you can mitigate the impact on your kids and help them to recover.
From taking legal action with help from auto accident attorneys to encouraging kids to share their feelings with other car accident survivors, there are numerous ways you can help your children to overcome the trauma that’s often associated with traffic accidents.
