Lol. So a 3 year old who watches his father beat up his mom can't "handle" stress well, so it's the 3 year old's fault right?
*barf*
Yeah, I highly doubt a 3 year old can watch his dad beat up his mom and not be scared and start crying. :roll:
A 3 year old cannot help but get very frightened when he or she sees somebody being hurt badly. That's extremely natural for such a small child. It's naturally SCARY for that child, or for anybody for that matter. I know I would be FRIGHTENED at ANY AGE if I saw my dad beat the shit out of my mom, and even worse if it happened on a regular basis. So, no it is NOT that child's fault for developing PTSD from seeing what happened, especially if it happens on a regular basis, and then can't deal with stress very well as a result.
Caution - Physical child abuse details:
I was physically abused from the age of 10 until 16 (placed in foster care at age 13) by many different abusers, including my dad and his wife, and some people in certain foster placements. I continued to be in foster care until I was 18, but when I was 16 my case was handed over to a private catholic foster care agency from the county (thank goodness), and as a result, I was taken out of the last abusive foster care placement, and placed with a deaf foster family. I still was shuffled between several foster homes, but all were much safer than the ones I was in before my case was handled by the private foster care agency. I didn't stay with the first deaf foster family for very long, but my PTSD did not surface until six months after I arrived at the first deaf foster family's home. Everything was fine, I was happy, etc. Then I went to Gallaudet for a summer program, and something happened there, and then I came back, and I proceeded to begin to fall apart due to PTSD from previous foster care abuse and from my dad and wife abusing me. And the end result was being sent to another foster home because the first deaf foster family I was with was not prepared to deal with my PTSD issues, and could not help me. I don't blame them. I went to stay with a deaf foster mother who had known me since I was a small child, and who is a school psychologist, so therefore she was able to help me, and was able to keep me.
Now, I get nervous if I see a parent yelling at a crying small child, or if I see a parent at a mall smacking her 8 year old daughter in the face, or if I see a couple arguing at a bus stop. I even immediately begin to walk away from the area if I see a gang fight about to start (I can tell very easily - the shouting and then flashing of the gang signs - time to go bye bye!) and stuff like that. I don't like tense situations. I don't like arguments. I can't handle seeing a parent yell at her or his child while I am visiting their home, because then I get afraid that the parent will end up taking the child to another room and then end up hitting the child, as that was what often happened to me when I was younger. I even often get shocked at how children act around their parents at the mall or the grocery store or a restaurant or school or whatnot, even though it is considered normal "rude" behavior that normally should only warrant a time-out (such as rolling their eyes, back-talking, making faces, being impolite, wandering away from the parents, laughing, the way they dress, language - even non-cussing, etc), because I knew that if I acted like that around my dad or his wife or at school, I would be BEATEN UP as soon as we/I got home. I end up worrying about that child I saw acting up, and I hope that child didn't get hurt later that day for her or his behavior.
I also have more PTSD resulting from MANY other things as well, but they are things that I do not wish to discuss here on AllDeaf, as they are even more personal.
So, yeah, I'm annoyed with people who thinks they understand PTSD but really don't understand it.