P T S D

When I was first placed into foster care I had to go through a series of test because I had been so badly physically and sexually abused. Alot of those test of course involved bloodwork and shots. After coming out of living in a crack house you can only imagine how I felt about needles. The hospital staff would strap me to a body board everytime they needed to use a needle because I would fight them so bad when I saw a needle. To this day, I am deathly afraid of needles. Every time I hear the mention of needing bloodwork or anything involving needles I think of that body board. I no longer fight but I have a small panic attack almost every time.

Did you know that Former foster children are almost twice as likely to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as U.S. war veterans, according to a study released by the Harvard Medical School (HMS), the University of Michigan and Casey Family Programs.

Mental Health is real and can be damaging. This is only one more reason why foster youth are so much in need of stable homes.