I have 4 kids and it was very hard when I had my "nervous break down" to hide anything. My 2 yo is clueless except that she knows mommy is "sick" and when I have panic attacks she holds me and pets me. They are very aware even so young. My 8 year old knows I have a panic disorder and is a very sharp kid and he knows when I am getting pushed too far and where to put the breaks on. My 13 year old daughter is a pain in the ass who finds it ammusing to push my buttons and send me over the edge, I am in a constant battle with her, she is a very cold mean thing... A teen girl being an ass is not a shocker though and try to tell my self that. She is also not the sharpest tool in the shed as she doesn't realize she is playing with fire. She knows I have a panic disorder and has PTSD and gets all huffy because she is getting drug to the hospital or doc when mom goes, other kids worry about me. My oldest teen son going on 15 and he is a very sharp boy and a brainiac in the jr. national honor society. He knows what I have and has done research because that is what he does. He has an understanding of it and that I had to go through a lot to get this "broken". He does not and will not know the details how I got here.

Again, I found it is a condtion impossible to hide from my family when PD kicked in and sent me seeking treatment and took about a year to get diagnosed by 2 different docs. They all know I go to treatment once a week as they get drug along! And have the "joys" of seeing me go through withdrawals off the meds originally used to try and control this beast, I have learned I need to control it.

As far as what you tell them needs to be based on their level of maturity and I don't beleive they need details in any form as to how you got there beyond trauma. But when it turn your house inside out like mine I felt a need for some sort of explaination and did so based on maturity levels as to what to say.