Stress is a natural and necessary part of a child development. However, it is important to not undervalue how stress can affect a child’s development. A child’s health may suffer from chronic stress or stress that is brought on by numerous factors. Children who experience toxic stress have changed their emotional and physical health and lifespans as adults.
Chronic stress can raise blood pressure, compromise the immune system, and exacerbate diseases like heart disease and obesity. It can also result in mental health issues like depression and anxiety, which are becoming more prevalent in young people.
Stress in adolescents does not always resemble stress in adults. However, just like adults, kids and teenagers can develop healthy coping mechanisms, even those who have experienced losses that have a profound impact on their lives. Together, children and their parents or other caregivers can discover the warning signs of excessive stress and learn how to control it with the right resources. Even a small thing like thinking about nursing thesis topics for the assignments can develop a high level of stress.
Stress factors in young children
Young children frequently experience stress from conflict at home. Children may be distressed by family strife, divorce, or loss. A child may find it difficult to adjust to even joyful changes like moving into a new home, getting a new sibling, or meeting a cherished new stepparent. School is another common source of anxiety for children. Young children may be worried about making friends, coping with bullies, or relating to their teachers. They may also be concerned about exams and grades. Which can easily be eliminated by just hiring Thesis Writing Services In USA based.
Effects Of Stress On Brain Development
Stress is an unavoidable part of a child’s life. Even before birth, fetuses are stressed. Survival requires a certain amount of stress. It aids kids in acquiring the coping mechanisms they will require to deal with novel, potentially hazardous situations throughout life.
Stress causes the body’s alert systems to activate. A rise in blood pressure, heart rate, overall oxygen consumption, and the release of the stress hormone are just a few of the physiological effects of the ensuing fight-or-flight response. Positive and manageable stressors only cause a temporary increase in stress levels. When the stressor is removed, the body goes back to its normal state.
Toxic stress can harm various components of the brain’s architecture while constructive and acceptable stress can aid in a child’s development. The following are some of the negative effects of stress on the developing brain.
1. COGNITION, LEARNING, AND MEMORY IMPAIRMENT
Stress hormones like cortisol are released more frequently as a result of toxic stress. The learning and memory center (hippocampus), as well as the executive function center (prefrontal cortex), can shrink as a result of persistently high cortisol levels, which can harm a child’s cognitive development. Cognitive deficits and erratic behavior can result, and these problems can last into adulthood.
2. OVERACTIVE STRESS REACTION
The limbic system, the brain’s emotional center, expands and becomes overactive when stress response systems are activated repeatedly and for an extended period of time. As a result, children raised in toxic environments are more anxious or aggressive. They frequently experience emotional dysregulation.
3. MENTAL DISORDERS
Extensive empirical evidence suggests that toxic stress can result in mental illness later in life, such as hallucinations, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, somatic disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicide attempts.
4. DYSREGULATED IMMUNITY
Toxic stress is harmful to more than just the brain. It can also be harmful to one’s physical health. Cortisol, a stress hormone released in stressful situations, can suppress the immune system, making a person more vulnerable to contagious diseases and chronic illnesses.
5. WELL-BEING
Children who grow up in toxic environments are more likely to develop chronic health issues such as heart disease. They frequently experience a lower sense of well-being, more problems at work, and a death that occurs up to 20 years earlier than expected. Toxic stress is extremely harmful to a child’s physical and mental well-being. A child’s lifelong health may suffer significantly as a result of early exposure to toxic stress.
What parents can do to help
Parents and other caretakers can help children and adolescents find stress-management strategies by adopting healthy habits themselves. Parents can take the following steps:
1. Show good coping techniques
Caretakers can discuss with children how they have considered and dealt with stressful situations in their own lives.
2. Allow children to solve problems
It’s normal to want to help your child with their issues. When parents rush in to fix every little problem, their children miss out on learning healthy coping skills. Give your kids the freedom to try to figure out their low-risk problems on their own; this will give them more self-assurance that they can handle pressure and failure.
3. Encourage media literacy
The majority of their time these days is spent online, where they risk coming across questionable material, cyberbullying, or peer pressure from social media. The key to success is developing time management skills that improve your academic performance (Nadinloyi et al., 2013). Parents can assist by limiting their children’s screen time and teaching them how to be smart online shoppers. This will also develop time management skills in children. Hence, time management is an essential tool for students (helpwithdissertation, 2022).
3. Avoid negative thinking
“I’m a terrible math student.” “I truly hate my hair.” “I’m never going to make the team.” “What’s the point of trying?” Children and teenagers are especially vulnerable to negative thinking. Don’t just disagree with children who use negative self-talk. Ask them to consider their claims carefully, or bring up instances when they put in extra effort and saw improvements. They will be better able to handle stress if they learn how to frame things positively.
Final Thoughts on Reducing Stress is important for Child Development
Scientists have discovered that a child can be protected from the damaging effects of stress by having nurturing, stable, and safe relationships with caregivers. These relationships protect children from physical and emotional harm. They give the child’s surroundings predictability and consistency. A child’s growing sense of self-esteem and confidence is also nourished by strong parent-child relationships.
Reference list:
HWD., (2022). Time Management Tips. Online Available at <https://www.helpwithdissertation.co.uk/blog/time-management-tips/> [Accessed on 30th March 2022]
Nadinloyi, K. B., Hajloo, N., Garamaleki, N. S., & Sadeghi, H. (2013). The study efficacy of time management training on increase academic time management of Students. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 134–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.523
