By Stacey Steinberg
Children may be processing the disruptions in their lives right now in ways the adults around them do not expect: acting out, regressing, retreating or even seeming surprisingly content. Parents need to know that all of this is normal, experts say, and there are some things we can do to help.
“Our natural response to scary things is biologically to release stress hormones,” said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician and surgeon general of the state of California, and the author of “The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity.” The release of stress hormones activates our fight or flight response. Our bodies, in responding with the release of stress hormones, are doing exactly what they should be doing.
But in some cases, exposure to stressful events — which right now might include the absence of routines, a parent’s job loss and economic hardship, or the serious illness or death of someone a child cares about — can leave children feeling traumatized.
Share This Post!
The Health Benefits of Volunteerism
By Eric Burger It’s a simple fact that every nonprofit organization knows: volunteering makes you feel better. But did you know that the anecdotal stories about volunteering health benefits have been [...]
Checklist: Creating Safe Spaces for Youth
By Mental Health America Now more than ever, young people need an environment where they feel seen, heard, and valued. [...] Creating connection starts with you, so allow youth to get [...]
What is Childhood Trauma: Trauma Types
By The National Child Traumatic Stress Network When a child feels intensely threatened by an event he or she is involved in or witnesses, we call that event a trauma. There [...]
Racial Trauma
By Mental Health America Racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress (RBTS), refers to the mental and emotional injury caused by encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination, racism, and hate crimes. Any [...]
For Children With a Disability, a Higher Risk of Trauma
By Steven Ross Johnson, US News Research released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a larger share of children with disabilities between 5 and 17 years of age [...]
Stress & Trauma Toolkit for Treating LGBTQ in a Changing Political and Social Environment
By American Psychiatric Association Violence against the LGBTQ community has increased over recent years. In 2016, the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando shocked the nation—with a single gunman killing 49 people and [...]