The body’s natural response to a stressful situation is to increase the heart rate and blood pressure, by initially releasing adrenalin to prime the body for immediate action, followed by the release of the stress hormone cortisol. A highly stressful event activates neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and emotional responses, which may not only disturb the body’s physiological equilibrium, but also induce epigenetic changes (changes in gene expression).
Serious bodily damage can manifest when stress becomes chronic. Chronic stress affects overall health, resulting in altered brain architecture, as well as a high risk of cognitive impairment, depression, stroke, heart attack, pro-inflammatory diseases, and an increased susceptibility to infections and cancer.
Adverse experiences and frequent or continual stress during a child’s earliest years not only affects their formative years, but put these kids at risk for lifelong health and social problems. Research has found that stress in utero and in the first months and year of life has lasting consequences. Stress in this regard refers to the chemical reactions in the body, rather than to an anxious state of mind.
Even a fetus is not spared the effects of maternal cortisol levels due to chronic stress, which may affect the gestational development of a fetus in the third trimester, and manifest as delays in childhood development. Genetic changes that may result from exposure to chronically high levels of cortisol, can be passed down to children.
Effects of stress on kids:
Harvard University has identified three different kinds of stress responses that children may experience:
A child growing up in an environment with supportive adults develops positive stress response systems, which form part of normal healthy development. These stress responses are brief in nature and buffered by the supportive relationships with adults. Children in a healthy home environment will naturally experience stress as they learn to cope with frustration and to overcome challenges.
More severe and longer lasting stressful situations activates the child’s stress response system to a greater degree. These stress responses are tolerable when the response is time limited and when supportive relationships with adults helps to buffer the effects of the stressful situation, such as death in the family. The brain and other organs recover from the harmful effects of the more severe stress response.
Stress responses in children become toxic when the stressful situations are frequent, strong and are prolonged in nature. Examples of early negative experiences that leads to toxic stress responses in children include physical or emotional abuse, exposure to domestic violence, chronic neglect, excessive harsh parenting, dysfunctional families, economic hardship, and the lack of adequate support from adults. Prolonged activation of the stress response can negatively affect the development of brain architecture and other organ systems, while increasing the risk of cognitive impairment and stress-related diseases in later life, such as heart disease, diabetes, depression, and substance abuse. The more adverse these experiences, the greater the risk of delays in the child’s development and later health and behaviour problems, even into their adult years.
The damaging effects of toxic stress responses on emotional and behavioural development, as well as its consequences on health can be prevented or reversed by supportive and responsive relationships with caring adults, says Harvard.
Signs of toxic stress in children:
The Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders (USA) says that research on children who face continued toxic stress found conditions such as:
- Difficulty with learning at school.
- Difficulty in trusting adults.
- Difficulty in forming healthy relationships and a higher risk of divorce as an adult.
- Higher incidences of substance abuse, smoking, unsafe sexual practices, participating in high-risk sports, and alcohol abuse.
- Higher incidences of post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, and behavioural disorders, including psychosis.
- Higher incidences of poor health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
- A higher risk of suicide.
Assisting kids with toxic stress:
Awareness of the danger signs of toxic stress as well as the circumstances these children are facing, is key to preventing and reducing toxic stress. Treatment programs by professionals target both the caretaker and the child, focusing on interventions that decrease stressors and strengthen the child’s response to stress, while aiming to strengthening family and/or household stability. A caregiver’s altered interaction with the child is an important component of such interventions, as it makes the child feel safer.
Sources:
Toxic stress. Published online. Center on the Developing Child. Harvard University. (www.developingchild.harvard.edu)
How stress affects child development. Published online. The Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders. (www.centerforanxietydisorders.com.)
Stress has lasting effect on child’s development. Published 15 February 2012. The Urban Child Institute. (www.urbanchildinstitute.org)
Genome-wide changes may result from excessive stress. Published online. The Institute for Functional Medicine. (www.ifm.org)
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