FOX23 learns how trauma may or may not develop following Yukon murder-suicide

TULSA, Okla. — A 10-year-old Yukon boy found his entire family dead after an apparent murder-suicide.

Police said he was the one who called 911.

University of Tulsa psychology professor Lisa Cromer said there's no way to predict how he or anyone else will respond to a trauma like that.

"Different kind of trauma reactions can be anywhere from, you know, like I say withdrawal, anger, crying or grief responses," Cromer said. "There's just really no way to predict how the individual is going to respond. I think an important thing to think about is what do they need and how can we help them."

She explained to FOX23, after events like this one, not everyone who experiences trauma needs treatment.

"In fact, we don't diagnose a trauma disorder until somebody's been showing signs of distress and signs of disfunction," she said. "Having a supportive environment, being placed with family or people who are like family who can be good care givers is really what's more important than getting someone immediately into therapy."

Even though cases like this one can be difficult for psychologists, Cromer explained the approaches they might take.

"What psychologists are able to do is provide support for family members. It very well may be that the caregivers need more support than the youth does at this point. The youth may not want to have any professional help," Cromer explained.

She did provide a message for the family.

"If they think that they need some support, if this feels too big, there are people who are skilled at helping. There's not a one size fits all, there's not an easy answer. There's definitely tools that can help," she said.

If you know any child that's being affected by trauma, there are sources to use here .

There is a GoFundMe that you can donate to for the family and the boy at this link .