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Children and stress

© Marilyn Robb

Children suffer from stress too. I do not need scientific data or official statistics to be sure that every other adult today complains of being under some kind of stress. Sometime the complaints are gentle, just someone needing to vent a little of their everyday frustrations. But there are those who have been advised to attend Stress Management courses for fear that they are about to explode. And then there are those who have made the rounds of the specialist doctors and none of them could find anything physically wrong with them. Yet they continue to be plagued by symptoms such as chronic pain, loss of hair, skin eruptions, sleepless nights, etc. But stress is not an age specific condition. Even young children suffer the effects of stress and need proper attention.

In order to fully comprehend the notion of childhood stress, we must examine the definition and causes of stress. Stress is generally described as a response of the body to demands made on it when the overall "homeostasis" or equilibrium of the body is shaken. Stress has also been described as the physiological and psychological responses of the body to a situation that is perceived as harmful.Stress is therefore not age specific nor since as soon as the nervous system begins to function it is capable of responding to any changes in equilibrium. Nor is it dependent on the situation since stress can result when the situation is perceived as threatening, but rather on the person's perception.

Stress responses involve both body and mind. The body responds according to how the mind interprets the stimulus and not to the stimulus itself. Hence the variation in the way people seem to deal with potentially stressful situations. One person may have an indifferent attitude to a situation whereas another may be highly stimulated by that same situation. The perception and interpretation of incoming information depend on each person's prior knowledge , experiences, culture and up-bringing. The older one gets the more information and experience one has. Therefore a situation will affect people of different ages differently. The demand on the body may be different, and the way the mind interprets it may be different, but the level of the stress could be the same.

What may seem trivial to an adult can be extremely stressful to a child. The obvious stressors- death of a loved one, divorce or separation in the family, change in the environment- are accepted causes of stress in children. Other recognizable factors are pressure to do well in school and anxieties about the transition to adolescence. But there are numerous other factors in a young person's life that could be perceived as threatening or harmful to them.

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