Articles

The Effects of Stress on Children

As parents, we want the very best for our children to grow, prosper, and be happy. We send them off to school to learn academics, the arts, social skills, and other useful traits, but when it comes to the daily stressors that life presents, how are we equipping our children to handle them? Studies show that many children currently suffer from anxiety, fears, and anger, that later lead to depression and disease. Many children do not know how to deal with the pressure of exams, bullying, or fitting in with friends, and others blindly navigate through major life changes such as divorce, moving schools, or even dealing with the death of a loved one. So how do we equip our children with the tools to cope with stress? Well first, we need to comprehend what stress is and how it is created within the body in the first place, and understand the damaging effects stress is having on our children and also on ourselves. Then we may clearly proceed with providing practical tools to empower our children to consciously counteract the effects of stress.

All humans have an in built stress response known as the ‘Fight-or-Flight Response’. The Fight-or-Flight Response was first described by Walter Cannon in 1915 and dates back to previous times when we needed to swiftly prepare the body and mind to either fight or flee a potential threat – such as a dangerous animal out in the wild. The way the Fight-or-Flight Response works is that, when a human perceives danger, a message is instantly sent from the sensory cortex of the brain, through the hypothalamus, to the brain stem. (This is a response triggered before conscious thought in order to create the fastest possible pathway to respond to a threat). This message activates the Sympathetic Nervous System, which stimulates the release of hormones from the adrenal glands, such as adrenaline and norepinephrine. The release of hormones physiologically prepares the body for maximum effort to either fight or flee. Some of the physiological changes that occur are:

An increase in heart rate and pulse
An increase in blood pressure
Breathing rate increases and becomes shallow
Muscles tense for action
Nutrients and blood flow are re-prioritised
The mind switches to survival mode and clear thinking processes cease
The bladder relaxes
Sphincters of the body open or slam shut

Once a person has used maximum physical exertion to either fight or flee a situation, their body will naturally return to a physiological state known as the ‘Relaxation Response’ and evoke the Parasympathetic Nervous System. Here, all systems in the body return to their regular, optimised functioning state.

When we look at modern society however, we can see how many potential stress triggers there now are in daily life – such as being stuck in traffic jams, meeting deadlines, performing well at work, paying bills, and hearing shocking stories in the news. When it comes to our children, there is the pressure to fit in, perform well at school, abide by rules, please adults, and try new activities outside their comfort zone. There is also the possibility of being confronted with fears, such as talking in front of the class, the threat of bullying or conflict, and avoiding perceived embarrassing situations. As a result, the stress response is being triggered much more often these days.

Because physical exertion in most of the situations mentioned above is deemed unnecessary or inappropriate, people are also remaining in the Fight-or-Flight Response for periods much longer than it is designed for. This results in grave damage to the body and mind. For example, a child that fears public speaking will unconsciously trigger the Fight-or-Flight Response the moment they are asked to talk in front of the class. Their heart rate will speed up and their breathing will become shallow, as their body wants to flee from the situation. Because it is deemed inappropriate behaviour, however, for the child to exert the energy they have created in order to ‘flee’ the situation, their body retains the symptoms of the stress response that are designed to be released in the situation. This process then creates imbalance within the body, leading to diseases or disorders such as anxiety, poor mental focus, and headaches. Other diseases and disorders stemming from frequent and prolonged periods in the Fight-or-Flight Response include:

Sleep disorders
Digestive disorders
Asthma
Allergies
Skin diseases
Muscle aches
Chronic pain
Depressed immune system
Bladder infection and disease
Involuntary urination
Depression
plus many more

When we look at the symptoms of the Fight-or-Flight Response (listed earlier) and the diseases and disorders listed above, we can see the clear connections between them. For instance, ‘increased muscle tension’ for prolonged periods leads to muscle aches, and as ‘the mind switches to survival mode and clear thinking processes cease’, poor mental focus results. Further, breath is directly linked to thought, therefore a sustained increase in one’s breathing rate will ultimately lead to anxiety.

So if it is deemed inappropriate to either fight or flee a situation that triggers the stress response, how can we equip our children with the necessary tools to counteract the negative effects of stress? The answer is by teaching them how to consciously evoke their body’s ‘Relaxation Response’ and switch on their Parasympathetic Nervous System at will. This is achieved via meditation. Through mindful meditation, we firstly become aware of the Fight-or-Flight response symptoms present in our bodies, then we intentionally evoke the Relaxation Response to reverse the negative effects of stress before it leads to disease and disorders. The more we meditate, the greater our awareness becomes of the current states of our bodies. It also allows us to recognise the internal stress symptoms sooner in order to combat them before they create an imbalance in our well-being. With mindful meditation, we become empowered as we actively gain control over our own health. Not only will we avoid, or even heal, disease, but we will improve all aspects of our health – such as improved mental focus, clarity, happiness, and peace. For children, this may result in:

Improved mental focus
Longer attention spans
Improved grades
Calmer behaviour
Improved social interaction
Increased self-esteem
Improved physical health
Better sleep

Through gaining the knowledge of how stress is created, its negative effects, and what we can do to counteract those effects, we become empowered to take control of our own health.

Stress triggers are everywhere in modern daily life, but by teaching our children the necessary tools to understand their own body and its response to stress – through meditation – we can empower them to counteract its negative effects and live a healthy, happy, and prosperous life.