PTSD causes persistent frightening thoughts and memories, and emotional numbness. PTSD, first noticed in war veterans, can result from many traumatic incidents including kidnapping, accidents , natural disasters, or violent attacks or child abuse.
Children often relive the trauma through repetitive play.
In young children, distressing dreams of the traumatic event may change into nightmares of monsters, of rescuing others or of threats to self or others. PTSD rarely appears during the trauma itself and often surfaces several months or even years later.