Stress in children is common. It affects the activity of many body systems and can cause serious illness. The article describes the causes of occurrence, methods of treatment and prevention of such conditions. Stress in a child is an adaptive response of the body, or rather the central nervous system, to various stimuli (physical, emotional, mental). In childhood, this phenomenon is very common. It can have negative consequences. Therefore, it is important to recognize it in time and seek help from specialists.
Symptoms of stress in children
The human body reacts to external stimuli from birth. Stresses are short-term and long-term. In the first case, the body as a whole benefits. However, in the second, on the contrary, harm is practically inevitable. Depending on the age, the symptoms of stress in a child can be completely different:
- The manifestation of the reaction of the body in children under two years of age … Babies and toddlers express the stress experienced by poor sleep, appetite or complete refusal to eat, excessive tearfulness and irritability.
- Stress in preschool children (two to five years old) … It is expressed in a return to the previous age (regression): sucking a pacifier, urinary incontinence, requests to feed from a spoon, and others. Tearfulness may occur when circumstances change or new people appear. There is a decrease in general activity or, conversely, the manifestation of signs of hyperactivity (do not forget that hyperactivity is an independent mental disorder). An unreasonable increase in temperature, vomiting is noted. The very impressionable may experience stuttering (temporary or permanent). The child is capricious, his exactingness increases, there are frequent outbursts of anger at the refusal to fulfill the instructions of adults, unmotivated aggression, nervousness for no apparent reason, frequent mood swings (for the worse). There is also an excessive manifestation of children's fears (fear of the dark, loneliness, death), because of which the baby cannot fall asleep.
- Stress in a young schoolchild … In this period of development, fatigue may appear, nightmares begin to torment. The child often complains of nausea, headaches, pain in the region of the heart, which may be accompanied by fever, causeless mouth. Parents note frequent cases of lying, age regression (begins to behave like younger children). Periodically, there is a desire to seek adventure, or, on the contrary, the student withdraws into himself, refuses to go for walks, avoids communication with peers, does not want to go to school. There is aggression towards people around, as well as low self-esteem, the desire to do everything so that the child is praised. Unreasonable feeling of fear, anxiety, deterioration of attention, memory, selective amnesia is possible (events that caused stress are forgotten). The child develops constant drowsiness or insomnia, the appetite can either worsen or, conversely, become excessively increased. Parents note with horror speech defects, nervous tics, mood swings, as well as prolonged (several days) challenging behavior.
In addition to the above, it is common for children of all ages to acquire new habits amid stress. For example, they may start biting nails or objects (pencils, pens, rulers), playing with their own hair (girls), scratching, picking their nose, and so on.
With such an abundance of symptoms, it is extremely difficult for an ordinary person (parents, teachers, for example) to recognize stress in a child. Often, signs are regarded as a manifestation of any disease, lack of upbringing, features of the character of the baby himself. An accurate diagnosis can only be made by a specialist based on the results of several interviews, psychological tests.
Causes of stress in a child
Children, due to the fact that their psyche is still extremely tender, and life experience is negligible, are much more impressed by adults under the influence of seemingly insignificant events.
The potential causes of stress in children are numerous:
- A drastic change in the daily routine … For example, a baby is used to going to bed when he wants to, and waking up quite late. And suddenly he needs to get up two or three hours earlier in order to come to kindergarten on time.
- Change of environment … The same kindergarten or school is the new faces of adults who also command, the need to get along in a team and obey its laws, and so on.
- Change in the familiar environment … Changing the residence of the whole family and moving to a new, unfamiliar apartment, while in the old place the child was very comfortable.
- Parting … Parting for a long or even short period with family and friends, friends.
- Loss or death of a pet … Some children even react sharply to the death of an aquarium fish or houseplant.
- Impact of media and computer technology … Watching TV shows, movies, Internet content not intended for a specific age (scenes of violence, murder, even scenes of an erotic and sexual nature). Information can be misinterpreted and perceived as bad. The situation can be aggravated by a sharp shout or other negative reaction of adults whom the child "caught" during intimate communication or watching an erotic video. This also includes listening to news about events in the country and in the world (about wars, natural disasters, accidents). Too strong passion for computer games, especially those that are more or less associated with aggression and violence.
- Human influence … Quite often, the stressful condition of adults can be transmitted to children. Even in the womb, mothers can observe the change in the baby's behavior when her mood changes.
- Environmental stress … That is, a sharp change in climate, a change in weather conditions, a decrease in the quality of food, water and air. Children, like adults, can be weather dependent. This is especially often noticed by parents of babies up to one year old, when they suddenly begin to be capricious, refuse to eat or often wake up at night with a full moon, for example.
- Impact from the environment … Since all processes in the human body, including in the central nervous system, are chains of chemical reactions, the causes of stress in a child can be toxic substances in the air and water, poisoning, and radiation.
Effects of stress in children
As already mentioned, stress is a natural and inevitable reaction of the body, which to some extent adapts it to new conditions. Thus, the organism itself is trying to survive. However, prolonged stay in this state will inevitably have negative consequences for the entire integral biological system.
Negative consequences
Most stress is negative. This often manifests itself as follows:
- Propensity for disease increases … The risk of cardiovascular disease is quadrupled. From 10% to 25% of children with a prolonged stay in a stressful state suffer from an exacerbation of chronic diseases of internal organs. Even a healthy child often develops gastritis and other problems of the digestive system due to nervousness. Immunity is weakened, and as a result, the risk of infectious diseases increases.
- Sleep disturbed … Even after short-term stress, you may experience, for example, insomnia during preparation or after passing exams. As for children under 5 years old, they have a state of frequent getting up in the middle of the night, a desire to sleep with their parents, and also a requirement to leave the light in the room.
- Psychological problems appear … The development of depression, an increased risk of suicide, which is especially evident in adolescent children.
- Problems with food, its assimilation … Often, children living in regular stress are overweight (with an increase in appetite) or, conversely, a catastrophic decrease in weight (when there is no appetite). In the first case, the child "seizes" his problems, in the second he is so depressed that his body simply refuses to accept food.
- With prolonged stress, the body's reactions are dulled … The hormones adrenaline and cortisol cease to be secreted in sufficient quantities. As a result, the child will not be able to respond correctly in an extreme situation. In a milder version, this can look like a failure on the exam when fully prepared. In sports, such a condition is said to be “burned out”.
Positive consequences
The effects of stress on a child can also be positive. They are usually short-lived and do not cause as deep damage to the psyche as negative ones.
Nature has taken care of the development of protective reactions to external stimuli, which allows you to quickly adapt. For example, tempering of the whole organism through douches is based on this. During sports training, a stressful state allows you to develop the necessary conditioned reflexes. The psyche is strengthened, it becomes possible to quickly make decisions in emergency situations. Positive stress arises under the influence not only of fear or shock from a change in the usual state, but even in the event of an unexpected positive event. Say, if the father returned to the child earlier from a business trip.
Important! After positive stress, the child's body quickly recovers, and in a similar situation there will no longer be such a violent reaction.
Methods for treating stress in a child
Only a specialist can determine the presence of a stressful condition. He should also prescribe treatment for stress in children, which is always complex. Typically, the first thing a doctor recommends is to eliminate the source of the condition. In most cases, this gives, although not instant, but positive results. There is no point in dealing with positive stress, as the body does an excellent job on its own.
Often, in parallel with the elimination of the source, drugs such as tincture of valerian or motherwort are prescribed, which have a calming effect. The doctor may prescribe the use of nootropic drugs that improve metabolic processes in the brain.
In addition, massage of the collar zone, electrosleep, pine baths or baths with sea salt are used. Vitamins are prescribed without fail (B-complex in the prerogative). It is highly recommended to adhere to sleep patterns, nutrition, in some cases, diet, which implies the exclusion of foods that provoke excitement of the nervous system.
Psycho-correction of the behavior of children, as well as adults from the immediate environment (parents, guardians, grandmothers, grandfathers) is carried out under the supervision of a psychologist.
Note! It must be remembered that it is more difficult to relieve stress in a child than to prevent it from occurring.
How to avoid stress in children
It should be understood that the child will not be able to completely avoid negative situations. He will have to be isolated from the rest of the world for this to happen. However, it is quite possible to reduce their influence and increase the stability of the nervous system to various loads.
For this you will need:
- Strict daily routine, rest … First of all, children of any age must comply with the regimen, go to bed on time. Sleep should be continuous and complete. Babies need to be put in bed at the same time. Before this, water procedures are recommended. Best of all, if it is a shower. Contraindicated treatments or hot baths are contraindicated. Of course, you can't overeat in the evening. Games before bed (including computer games), as well as physical activity, should be avoided, as they are exciting. The same applies to mental stress in the evening.
- Sports activities … Various physical activities in the morning, afternoon, evening (but not later than three hours before bedtime) increase resistance to stress. Sports activities are generally a great way to relieve stress in children, increase self-esteem, and improve the general condition of the body. Walking in the fresh air is very useful for relaxation after physical or mental stress. They can be both fast and slow. At the same time, it is useful to communicate, ask about the state of health, the day spent, discuss problems, helping to get rid of the negativity accumulated during the day.
- Limited access to computer, TV … It is necessary to control the content that goes to the child. Limit or completely exclude overly aggressive computer games, movies with scenes of violence, materials that are not age appropriate.
- Preparing for a stressful situation … To reduce the risk of negative consequences, for example, when a child goes to kindergarten, psychologists recommend that parents play hide and seek with their baby. This will help to understand that the absence of mom or dad is temporary and always ends with their arrival.
- Proper nutrition … Healthy and wholesome food is also very important for psychological well-being. This has already been mentioned in the causes of stress. And it's not just about the taste or the feeling of satiety. With food, the body receives the necessary minerals that play an important role in chemical processes. They either provoke excessive excitability or calm the nervous system. For active and impressionable children who have problems, for example, with sleep, it is recommended to add mint, lemon balm to tea, drink warm milk before going to bed. In addition, for example, an insufficient intake of such an element as magnesium contributes to the disruption of metabolic processes in cells, overexcitation of the nervous system, the development of a tendency to diabetes, increased blood pressure, and so on. Magnesium deficiency is facilitated by the use of phosphoric acid in carbonated sweet drinks, energy drinks, excessive use of semi-finished products saturated with food additives (glutamate, aspartate), and the use of psychostimulants.
- Taking vitamins during the change of seasons … Starting in late autumn and ending in early spring, the natural intake of trace elements (the same magnesium) into the body decreases. This is one of the stressors. Therefore, it is necessary to compensate for the intake of the necessary substances by taking vitamins.
How to treat stress in children - watch the video:
Stress in a child is common and almost inevitable. In any case, in a short-term form. It is very difficult to define it, as there are many symptoms that are similar to other disorders of the body. The final diagnosis should be made by a specialist through several interviews and psychological tests. Treatment is carried out in a comprehensive manner, using medication and non-medication. But it is not worth bringing to radical methods of influence. It is better to engage in prevention and preparation of the child's body for stressful situations in advance.
