Inside Pediatrics Spring/Summer 2026

NEUROLOGY & NEUROSURGERY

Addressing PTSD in Kids With Hydrocephalus

The young child was beyond terrified of the hospital. Born with hydrocephalus, he’d had numerous surgeries, and his anxiety was so high that just getting him to the car for doctors’ appointments was a struggle. It could take an hour to get from the parking garage to the hospital entrance, given his tantrums and refusal to walk. The behavior continued at home every time someone opened the front door. “The parents really couldn’t live their life because it was so intense,” said Elizabeth McRae, Ph.D., a pediatric clinical child psychologist at Children’s of Alabama.

Elizabeth McRae, Ph.D.

Here was a clear case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to the boy’s illness. Resolving it is exactly what McRae, who joined the neurosurgery team in January 2024, was hired to do.

For years, neurosurgeons and families caring for children with hydrocephalus understood the physical stakes: shunts that could fail without warning, repeated surgeries, emergency trips to the hospital. What was less visible—and often unaddressed—was the psychological toll of living in constant vigilance both for the patient and the family.

Earlier work at Children’s helped bring that reality into focus, documenting high rates of medical post-traumatic stress among families coping with hydrocephalus. But identifying the problem was only the beginning.

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Inside Pediatrics | Children’s of Alabama