Published Papers by Dr. Benjamin Hirsch

Post Traumatic Stree Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop after a severely upsetting event such as assault, abuse or a serious accident. Recent studies estimate that seven percent of Americans have at one time or another suffered from this psychologically disabling condition. What is often overlooked is that children can experience PTSD. Sadly, even when recognized in children, it is not treated. A recent case study allowed me the oppurtunity to treat a child who was clearly suffering from from post traumatic stress. "Little Blanca" was the 3 1/2 old daughter of Spanish-speaking parents. The family had been involved in an automobile accident that had severly injured the mother's knee and caused her to walk with a severe and pronounced limp. Blanca's mother explained that the little girl had trouble sleeping at night, was willing to seperate from her, had overt anxiety especially in cars, and had regressed to bed wetting. Oddly, Blanca limped even though she had not been injured in the accident. Blanca, however insisted that her knee was injured. She repeated over and over "leg hurt just like mommy." I theorized that this identification with her mother was Blanca's way of minimizing or controlling her anxiety. While I was fairly secure in my diagnosis, I was truly nonplused about how to treat this child. Moreover, there was a language problem: her first language was is Spanish and I am not fluent in that tongue. Attempts to use the traditional techniques to desensitize Blanca were painfully slow. Almost by accident, I found out that Blanca was fascinated by the cartoon television personality Barney, the purple dinosaur who "lives in the imagination of children." As an adult, I would describe him as a "big kid with a great need to love and be loved." Young children find him absolutely irresistible, watching the show or videos of the show hour after hour. I located a videotape entitled "Riding in Barney's Car", and playing it for Blanca produced remarkable results. After three or four viewings of the tape, Blanca's symptoms had disappeared! She was no longer anxious, and was much more willing to separate from her mother. Subsequently, as other practioners have reffered children with PTSD to me, I have repeated this technique, and, time after time, it has proven remarkable success. In summary, young children can and do suffer significant post traumatic stress. Their symptoms can all too often be dismissed or denigrated. Moreover, treatment techniques can often be hard to come by. This writer has used a combination of desensitization and reinforcement techniques with a popular cartoon figure to help children recover form PTSD.