Trauma is caused by a break in the routing, the more continuities are broken the more significant trauma may be developed. For example, when someone break one of the limbs the person needs to adapt to the new situation, daily activities can be more difficult the person might avoid or unable to do them and this can bring a cycle of avoidance, a feeling of impotent feeling and anxiety which leads to more avoidance on so on.
Suddenly to become a refugee a person looses most of his routines, you are out of your home, in a new place, fully depended on others, in a foreign environment, you might not know what happened to your relatives and friends. this experience is full with uncertainty, anxiety stress and fear.
Children might experience this even much more, because they are more supported by others, they lack the ability of adults of looking at the situation from distance and receive hope the situation might eventually change. And also because their resources and life experience are smaller than as of adults and they haven't yet being able to fully develop coping mechanism.
Unfortunately no one can change the reality of being a refugee and the costs one must pay due to this inhuman reality. however, there are some simple steps one can do in order to better mentally cop with the situation.
first, identify what is not under your influence and what you can influence, and be active to influence what you can. for example, you might not be able to change the fact that you live in a refugee camp, but you still able to control what you do with your day, staying passive and don't do nothing is bad for your mental health but doing tasks (even if you are a 3 year old child) than you might feel capable, and active and therefore better about your self.
Secondly, make sure you have a routing, shower on a daily basis (if possible), brush your teeth, eat breakfast on a regular time, go to bed at about the same time every day and so on. have a routing makes one feel in control about ones life, its true for adults as it is for children.
Third, do things than fills your battery. if you used to do sport, continue to do sport activities, meditates if you find it helpful, listen to music, draw, write, play and so on. our ability to cope with situations relays on what the reality is but also on our mental resources, so makes sure you always recharge your self with resources.
four, make sure you feel in charge of someone else, this gives us humans a sense of purpose, a goal that helps as recruit energy to cope with extremely difficult situations. children shouldn't be motivated to feel in charge of their parents, is should be the other way around, but they can be in charge of a pet, of even a toy.
Becoming a refugee is awful, but it is in anyone ability to try and better cope with the situation while praying this would eventually end and things will come back to normal.
our prays and thoughts with you and we hope this post helps
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