The Link Between Toxic Stress In Children And Chronic Illness-💜

Key Takeaways

• Toxic stress occurs when children encounter long-term abuse, neglect, violence, and more without adult intervention or support. Experts from Harvard and the Minnesota Department of Health link toxic stress to a higher risk of contracting severe health problems as an adult.
• Research has shown that adults with high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have a higher chances of living with chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, COPD, obesity, and high blood pressure.
• Toxic stress affects brain development and weakens the immune system. This increases the chance for developing mental health disorders including depression and PTSD.
• Caring adult relationships are a great solution for toxic stress in children. Trauma-focused therapy and local community programs in Michigan and the United States help build resilience and minimize the risk of future illness.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages early screening for toxic stress. Introducing mindfulness, a stable environment, and strong communities can lower the lifelong health risks connected to early stress and trauma.

What is Toxic Stress?

Toxic stress comes into play when kids experience high levels of adversity over a length of time with no intervention. Experts at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University and the National Scientific Council have observed that this type of repeated exposure to negative events, such as child abuse or chronic neglect results in a strong stress response within your body.

Other experiences that cause toxic stress include emotional abuse (even from a family member or loved one), guardian substance use, household dysfunction (for example, poverty or domestic violence), early childhood trauma, living in foster care, the death of a parent, a traumatic natural disaster, or mental illness in a close caregiver.

Because your body’s stress response activates over and over in these types of circumstances, it can create an excess of stress hormones like cortisol. This causes a child’s blood pressure and heart rate to remain high over a longer period of time.

Without the intervention or supportive relationships of trusted adults to stop this stress, a child's brain development is more likely to develop behavioral problems including defiance, risky behavior, or physical health concerns like headaches or stomach aches.

It can also cause sleep issues including nightmares, as well as a number of other negative effects like withdrawal, hypervigilance, tantrums, chronic anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or an increased risk for mental illness.

The Minnesota Department of Health links toxic stress with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional damage. This can result in greater risk factors and lifelong health disparities if not managed quickly either by a child's parents or health care professionals.

How Toxic Stress Contributes to Chronic Illness

Toxic stress affects the healthy development of your brain, and can even disrupt your physical health over time. Chronic illness can result from the effects of early childhood adversity, which shapes your stress response systems.

Children experiencing excessive stress without the care of supportive adults, may have issues coping as an adult. Unfortunately, these challenges may lead to more severe health risks like substance abuse or mental health issues throughout their life span.

Environmental influences are another determining factor, for example, where you grow up may have an impact on how well you are able to manage stress.

Impact on Physical Health

Early childhood adversity or long-term exposure to chronic stress can radically change your future physical health in a negative way. Studies have found that adults with a high number of adverse childhood experiences are at a much higher risk of contracting chronic illnesses like heart disease, COPD, obesity, cancer, ischemic heart disease, and even high blood pressure as they grow older.

When your body’s stress response systems are functioning abnormally, it disrupts your neuroendocrine-immune network. This weakens your natural immune defenses and can create more infection and inflammation over time.

Toxic stress responses determine how certain genes respond during your life course, and compromised neural connections can form as a result of severe or long-lasting adverse experiences.

Subtle signs of toxic stress may show up right away in the form of developmental delays, however, many individuals often experience physical health outcomes years after the adversity has ended. This is why addressing mental wellness in childhood is equally important to preventing illness as it is with physical health.

Effects on Mental Health

When a child’s life is impacted by toxic stress, it can change the architecture of the developing brain. High levels of early adversity are often linked with mental health issues in adults such as depression, PTSD, and psychosis.

Sleep problems and excessive worry are a few symptoms that show up often in kids suffering from toxic stress. Many later turn to unhealthy coping skills or habits just to get by. As they develop into adults, they may notice more sadness or feelings of hopelessness at times. In severe cases, even resulting in suicide attempts.

Addressing the Link Between Toxic Stress and Chronic Illness

Fortunately, there are ways to reduce toxic stress and prevent future illness. Follow these steps to get started:

• Creating a stable living and work environment is vital in protecting against lasting harm.
• Building a community filled with caring relationships can also make a big difference. Having supportive adults around will help kids better manage their feelings.
• Advocate for children facing social, economic, and behavioral issues. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that this is essential for healthy youth development.
• Explore the comprehensive treatment options within the medical home model, like screening for toxic stress and leveraging resources for families.
• Support emotional healing through evidence-based therapies like parent-child interaction therapy or trauma-focused psychotherapy.
• Use techniques like mindfulness, relaxation exercises, meditation or music therapy to build mental resilience.
• Get involved with community programs to create support early on. CNS Healthcare in Oakland County offers specialized therapies that can improve the path of child development and reduce toxic stress that leads to chronic illness.

By taking early action, you can create a more positive stress response and improve the health outcomes tied to toxic stress in children.

Stop Toxic Stress With CNS

Toxic stress affects a child's mind and brain development, leading to serious conditions like heart disease or depression that may appear later in life. Building supportive relationships is critical for those children suffering from adversity without the presence of caring adults to help them adjust and cope.

Luckily, taking a few simple steps can make a real difference. By creating a more stable environment, building community, and looking into local stress management mental health services, like those found at CNS Healthcare in Detroit, children can avoid future illness and create a more healthy lifestyle.

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