Toxic stress: A slow wear-and-tear

Our [bodies are built to respond]( when under attack. When we sense danger, our brain goes on alert; our heart rate goes up; and our organs flood with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. We breathe faster, taking in more oxygen, and our senses are sharpened. That’s all fine when we need to jump out of the way of a speeding bus, or when someone is following us down a dark alley. In those cases, our stress is considered “[positive]( because it is temporary and helps us survive. But our bodies sometimes react in the same way to more mundane stressors, too. When a child faces constant and unrelenting stress, from neglect, or abuse, or living in chaos, the response stays activated, and may eventually derail normal development. This is what’s known as “[toxic stress]( The effects are not the same in every child, and can be [buffered by the support of a parent or caregiver]( in which case the stress is considered “[tolerable]( But toxic stress can have profound consequences, sometimes even spanning generations. Figuring out how to address stressors before they change the brain and our immune and cardiovascular systems is one of the biggest questions in the field of childhood development today. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Daily Obsession] Toxic stress March 05, 2020 Sustained pressure --------------------------------------------------------------- Our [bodies are built to respond]( when under attack. When we sense danger, our brain goes on alert; our heart rate goes up; and our organs flood with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. We breathe faster, taking in more oxygen, and our senses are sharpened. That’s all fine when we need to jump out of the way of a speeding bus, or when someone is following us down a dark alley. In those cases, our stress is considered “[positive]( because it is temporary and helps us survive. But our bodies sometimes react in the same way to more mundane stressors, too. When a child faces constant and unrelenting stress, from neglect, or abuse, or living in chaos, the response stays activated, and may eventually derail normal development. This is what’s known as “[toxic stress]( The effects are not the same in every child, and can be [buffered by the support of a parent or caregiver]( in which case the stress is considered “[tolerable]( But toxic stress can have profound consequences, sometimes even spanning generations. Figuring out how to address stressors before they change the brain and our immune and cardiovascular systems is one of the biggest questions in the field of childhood development today. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [1 million:]( New synapses that form every second in a healthy developing brain during the first years of life [1 in 6:]( Share of US adults who experienced four or more types of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, putting them at high risk of toxic-stress physiology [21 million:]( Cases of depression in the US that could have been prevented by eliminating adverse childhood experiences [9 million:]( “Persistently poor” children in the US, meaning those who spend at least half their lives from birth through age 17 living in poverty [16%:]( Share of “persistently poor” children who become economically successful young adults [61%:]( Share of adults surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control between 2015 and 2017 who have experienced at least one ACE [$160 million:]( Estimated yearly cost of California’s new ACEs Aware program [$113 billion:]( Estimated cost to the state of California of ACE-related health care for adults in the year 2013 REUTERS/Marko Djurica Explain it like I’m 5! ACEs and toxic stress --------------------------------------------------------------- In 1998, two researchers, Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda, published a study demonstrating that people who had experienced abuse or household dysfunction as children were more likely to have serious health problems, like cancer or liver disease, and unhealthy lifestyle habits, like drinking heavily or using drugs as adults. This became known as the “[ACE Study]( short for “adverse childhood experiences.” Scientists have since linked more than a dozen forms of ACEs—including homelessness, discrimination, and physical, mental, and sexual abuse—with a higher risk of poor health in adulthood. Every child reacts to stress differently, and some [are naturally more resilient]( than others. But the pathways that link adversity in childhood with health problems in adulthood lead back to toxic stress. As [Quartz’s Jenny Anderson explains]( “when a child lives with abuse, neglect, or is witness to violence, he or she is primed for that fight or flight all the time. The burden of that stress, what [Bruce McEwan calls ‘allostatic load,’]( can damage small, developing brains and bodies. A brain that thinks it is in constant danger has trouble organizing itself, which can manifest itself later as problems paying attention, or sitting still, or following instructions—all of which are needed for learning.” [Read the Quartz series Rewiring Childhood]( Sponsored by EY Quantum computing is the next corporate space race. --------------------------------------------------------------- This future tech will make the world’s most powerful supercomputers seem snailish. And while there are still development hurdles to overcome, one thing is certain: Leaders who start testing now will be ready.[See how to prepare your business.]( Quotable “The only buffer you have is a parent. Take that away, and everything falls apart.” —[Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University]( Department of Jargon The controversy around the word “toxic” --------------------------------------------------------------- Toxic is a loaded word. Critics say the term is inherently judgmental and may appear to blame parents for external social circumstances over which they have little control. Others say it’s often misused to describe the source of stress itself rather than the biological process by which it could negatively affect some children. The term, [writes John Devaney]( centenary chair of social work at the University of Edinburgh, “can stigmatise individuals and imply a universality of experience which doesn’t exist.” Some pediatricians don’t like the term because of how difficult it is to actually fix the stressors their patients face, from poverty to racism. They feel it is too fatalistic to tell families that their child is experiencing toxic stress and there is little they can do about it. But Nadine Burke Harris, surgeon general of California, argues that naming the problem means we can dedicate resources to it, so that pediatricians feel like they have tools to treat toxic stress. Giphy pop quiz What are the three kinds of stress? Positive, negative, and neutralPositive, tolerable, and toxic Mild, heavy, and toxic Correct. “Positive” stress helps us survive immediate threats and dangers. “Tolerable” stress arises from serious but temporary situations, in which someone has sources of support to buffer the effects of the stress. And “toxic” stress is consistent and intense, and ultimately harms our immune, metabolical, and cardiovascular systems. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Toxic stress? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Daily Obsession email – to the email – Brief history [1998:]( Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda publish the initial findings of the ACE Study. [2001:]( An influential paper published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research examining the health of adult children of Holocaust survivors finds that having a parent who was exposed to trauma increases the risk of their child having lifetime depressive disorder. [2005:]( The Harvard Center on the Developing Child introduces the concept of “toxic stress” in a working paper. [2009:]( The first reference to “toxic stress” in peer-reviewed academic literature appears in The Journal of the American Medical Association. [2012:]( The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) publishes a statement calling on pediatricians to “inform the development of innovative strategies to reduce the precipitants of toxic stress in young children and to mitigate their negative effects.” [2014:]( The California Legislature passes Assembly Concurrent Resolution 155, which recognizes the impact of ACEs and toxic stress on childhood development. [2018:]( The Trump administration institutes a policy of separating migrant children who try to illegally cross the US-Mexico border from their caregivers. [Experts say]( the toxic stress resulting from being separated from a parent is “a fundamental, moral disaster.” Giphy Million-dollar question How do we protect children from toxic stress? --------------------------------------------------------------- 📉 Reduce the source of the stress. This can be tricky, especially if the source of the stress is the child’s own family. But parent coaching, and connecting families with resources to help address the cause of their stress (sufficient food, housing insecurity, or even the parent’s own trauma), can help. 🌿Teach children and adults about lifestyle habits and skills that can help protect them from the wear-and-tear effect of toxic stress. Those include exercise, mindfulness, sleep, nutrition, and mental health. “There are many ways for [providers] to help their patients heal from a toxic stress biology that they can do—that they get to own,” explains Nadine Burke Harris, surgeon general of California and expert on ACEs. 💞[Love and support from a parent or caregiver](. Young children’s stress responses are more stable, even in difficult situations, when they are with an adult they trust. As Megan Gunnar, a child psychologist and head of the [Institute of Child Development]( at the University of Minnesota, [told Quartz]( “When the parent is present and relationship is secure, basically the parent eats the stress: the kid cries, the parent comes, and it doesn’t need to kick in the big biological guns because the parent is the protective system.” That’s why [Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child]( recommends offering care to caregivers, like mental health or addiction support, because when they are healthy and well, they can better care for their children. Watch this! Buffer in action --------------------------------------------------------------- Want to see what it looks like when a parent buffers the effects of toxic stress? Watch [this video of Abdullah Al-Mohammad]( a father in the war-torn Syrian province of Idlib, teaching his three-year-old daughter Salwa to laugh at the sounds of planes and bombs overhead. The source of stress—war—is there, but thanks to her father, Salwa isn’t as frightened. Take me down this 🐰 hole! Take the test --------------------------------------------------------------- Curious about your own ACE score? [NPR has a quiz that will calculate it for you]( and then explain what it does—and doesn’t—mean. Giphy poll What do you think about the use of the words toxic stress? [Click here to vote]( It seems like a fair summary of a complex problem.It unfairly stigmatizes people and may be counterproductive.I don’t know what I think about it. 💬 let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about the [periodic table of elements]( 66% of you said you know a number of the familiar elements, like hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. 📧 Courtney writes: “You left out the most fascinating part of the story of how the periodic table was [designed and discovered in a dream]( 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20toxic%20stress%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Annabelle Timsit]( ([@BelleTimsit]( edited by [Annaliese Griffin]( and produced by [Tori Smith](. [facebook]( The correct answer to the quiz is Positive, tolerable, and toxic . Enjoying the Quartz Daily Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Daily Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. 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