Brownlee, S. (1996, November 11). "The biology of soul murder: Fear can harm a child’s brain. Living with fear puts children at high risk for problems later in life. Is it reversible?" U.S. News and World Report, pp. 71-72.

OVERVIEW

This article is prefaced by a picture of two very small boys standing in rapt attention while medics treat the victim of a gunshot wound in their Houston neighborhood. The article describes three little girls at Houston’s Texas Children’s Hospital. Nothing about their appearance, as they sit quietly in the psychiatric clinic’s plastic chairs, betrays the fact that their apartment had been raided by two armed men who tied them up, shot their older sister in the head, and threatened the youngest of them (3 years of age) with a gun.

Now, two days later and despite their calm appearance, their hearts are still racing at more than 100 beats a minute, their blood pressure remains high and, inside their heads, the biological chemicals of fear are changing their brains.

Bruce Perry, child psychiatrist at Baylor College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital, is a researcher who is finding that trauma, neglect, and physical and sexual abuse can have severe effects on a child’s developing brain.

People look at kids who seem so normal after these experiences and say, "all they need is a little love." Actually, the results are far longer lasting.

What is being discovered are new insights into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and nature of the human brain. Biologists once viewed the human brain as genetically programmed. Now they are viewing it as much more plastic or malleable molded by both genes and experience throughout life.

A single traumatic experience can alter an adult’s brain: a horrifying battle, for instance, may induce the flashbacks, depression, and hair-trigger response of post-traumatic stress disorder. And researchers are finding that abuse and neglect early in life can have even more devastating consequences, tangling both the chemistry and the architecture of children’s brains and leaving them at risk for drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and psychiatric problems later in life.

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

Trauma’s toll on a child’s brain begins with fear. Real or imagined threats produce surges of adrenaline. Pounding heart, taut muscles, and anger ready the child for the fight or flight response.

Research on neglected and abused children points to a harmful imbalance of cortisol in the brain. Megan Gunnar’s research in Romanian orphanages suggests that cognitive and developmental delays correlate with irregular cortisol levels. Gunnar also concluded that this damage may cause memory lapses, anxiety, and an inability to control emotional outbursts.

The research of Martin Teicher (psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts) found fewer left-hemisphere nerve-cells connections in abused children. Children with the most abnormal recordings were the most likely to be self-destructive or aggressive.

Bruce Perry’s research demonstrated a variety of other disturbances in physiology, thinking, and behavior.

Many had elevated resting heart rates, temperature, and blood pressure. Hypervigilance is common. Abused kids continually scan their surroundings for danger and overinterpret the actions of others. An innocent playground bump may be seen as a direct threat. And as many as half of the children from some violent neighborhoods show symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), compared with about 6 percent of the general population.

Children who are aroused from fear, says Perry, can’t take in cognitive information. They’re too busy watching the teacher for threatening gestures, and not listening to what she’s saying.

Frank Putnam (child psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health) is performing a longitudinal study (since 1990) of sexually abused girls. His findings include:

• More evidence of depression & suicide attempts.
• Many showed initial symptoms of PTSD.
• A gradual decline in their IQ scores.
• Being likely to be rated by teachers as not likable.

REMEDIAL POSSIBILITIES

Although these symptoms and the response of many teachers is not encouraging, the brain’s plasticity, human resiliency (which has been the lifetime study of child psychologist, Emmy Werner, in Hawaii) and the power of loving mentoring point in a positive direction. Apparently, some children and young people are more resilient than others. But all can respond to loving care and secure structure. Researchers now believe loving relationships also can help older children reset their response to stress when it has been derailed by abuse. This is not always easy. Even a loving touch can sometimes set off a tantrum. Fortunately, researchers are also discovering drugs that can check the "fight or flight" response.

Failing these children and teenagers may be short-sighted, the researchers like Teicher remind us. They are less likely to live up to their economic potential, and are more likely to wind up in prison, on drugs, or in psychiatric units. The cost on society of having a child who has gone through abuse is enormous.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. Have you known any children or young people with symptoms like these? Is it likely you might?
2. What new information did you learn from this article and what most impressed you?
3. Do you take exception to anything in this article? What questions would you like answered or have discussed.
4. How can you use this information in your youth work to train others?

Dean Borgman cCYS

Kelley, D. (1996, August 16). "Life got you stressed out? Laugh it off, expert says." USA Today, p. 4D.

OVERVIEW

Some of us may be inclined to laugh off Loretta LaRouche and her fake Groucho Marx nose, mustache, and eyebrows or her Viking helmet. She has done a couple of PPS specials ("Humor Your Stress" and "The Joy of Stress"). She also has her own company, Humor Potential, in Plymouth, MA, along with a TADAH club (The Association of Delightfully Alive Humans). LaRouche is an adjunct professor of the Behavior Institute of Medicine affiliated with the Harvard Medical School.

Tired of hearing people moan and complain (she’s determined that 75% of today’s conversations are negative), LaRoche suggests a martyr’s kit: two pieces of Velcro on attached to the forehead and other to the back of the hand. In this way the "woe-is-me pose" after slapping the back of hand to the forehead can be sustained for all to see without tiring the arm.

More seriously, the message to an over stressed society is that "stress is bad for the body, and humor can help get it under control."

I think we are definitely over stressed. It’s reaching epidemic proportions....Probably if you were to describe the core of what I do, it is to point out our irrational thinking mechanisms. It’s how we interpret situations. It’s the misinterpretation that becomes funny. Example?

I’m standing in line in the supermarket with a lot of people, and I say, "Can you believe this? They’re always here when I’m here." It’s these words that create a feeling that somehow there’s a plot that somebody knows you’ve come to the store....

I have to learn to see life as it is, and I’m sure I’m not at the center of the universe. It’s not all happening to me and it’s not everybody’s fault. Once you do that, you start to reduce the pomposity, the solemnity. You lighten up. You see we’re all in this.

My mission in life is to stop global whining....I think people should try something to see themselves in a comedic way as much as possible. Having a sense of humor helps you connect with people.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. Do you think people today are over stressed? How do you think humor relieves stress?
2. What in this article most impresses you? Is there anything here with which you would disagree?
3. What are your suggestions to avoid or reduce stress? How could developing a sense of humor help to live with less stress?
4. What kind of humor creates more stress in an individual and situation?
5. Are children and young people under special stress these days? Where does this come from? How can humor be used more effectively in youth programs?

IMPLICATIONS

1. When famous writer and editor Norman Cousins contracted cancer, he seemed to find a cure in reducing stress through humor and wrote a book about laughter, the most effective proscription.
2. Teenage stress has been neglected in the literature and in the practice of youth work.
3. A safe and carefree environment, change of pace, informal time with friends, humor, and wilderness experiences all help reduce youthful stress. Study resources on humor to see how healthy humor can be used more effectively in your work or the classroom.

Dean Borgman cCYSStoesen, L (June 2007) “Recognizing Secondary Traumatic Stress,” NASW News.

 

Overview

Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a very real, though sometimes overlooked, threat to social workers. Kim Shackelford worked in child welfare for years. Over time, she noticed that difficult, unresolved cases haunted her when the workday was over, leading to stress, nightmares, a negative outlook on the workplace, and intimacy issues within her own family.

 

Distinct from what sometimes passes under the title “burnout,” STS tends to be a “vicarious traumatization.” Some call it “compassion fatigue.” According to Stoesen, it results in changes in the psychological construct of the social worker and disrupts his or her beliefs. In Shackelford’s case, she was initially relieved simply to have a name for what was effecting her. Over time, she has sought to educate other social workers about this reality, co-authoring the book, Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Child Welfare Professional. But efforts to document the phenomenon are relatively recent.

 

In the 1980s, Charles Figley, now a professor at the Florida State University College of Social Work, started examining specific behavioral symptoms and comparing them with other types of traumatic stress. Brian Bride, a former student of Figley’s, helped clarify STS as a distinct thing, something separate from cases of pronounced counter-transference. In 2007 Bride published an article presenting evidence that social workers in many fields, not just child welfare, experience the symptoms of STS. In a survey of 282 social workers, over 70 percent of respondents had experienced at least one symptom of STS in the previous week.

 

According to Bride, “social workers engaged in direct practice are highly likely to be secondarily exposed to traumatic events through their work with traumatized populations. . .”

 

STS symptoms include feeling:

·        Helpless

·        Confused

·        Alone

·        Unsafe

·        Anxious

·        Withdrawn

·        Suspicious

·        Hopeless

 

Shackleford calls the following behaviors “red flags”:

·        Substance abuse

·        Dissociation

·        Irritability and Anger

·        Deterioration of personal/professional relationships

·        Risky behavior

·        Loss of empathy or concern for others

 

John Weaver, a social worker and founding partner of Eye of the Storm, Inc. (a consulting practice that specializes in disaster mental health, among other things), likens STS to “second-hand smoke of the mind.” Says Weaver, “You’re exposed to so much pain that vicarious traumatization occurs. If people don’t have good boundaries and support systems, if they don’t have good self-care, they become victims.”

 

For new graduates in social work attentive supervision is a necessary safeguard. Weaver and Shackelford agree that agencies and workers need to get in the habit, early and often, of voicing their work-related feelings in a supportive community of other social work professionals. Shackelford’s own students working in child welfare, for example, are instructed to pay attention to emerging symptoms they may have. But more awareness is needed. The tendency to chalk things up to ‘burnout’ allows a lot of experienced social workers to retire early, with insufficient thought given to the cause or treatment of potential STS symptoms. 

 

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

1.      Do you or social workers you know have experience with these kinds of stress?

2.      Are social workers prone to burn out?

3.      Are young social workers adequately mentored and supported as they begin their work?

4.      What are some ways in which child welfare advocates and counselors can be supported in their difficult work?

 

Implications:

When experiences of stress are given a medical label (such as “STS”) our perspective of them changes. Whether or not STS is indeed a classifiable and quantifiable phenomenon is less important than the fact that social-workers work and live under incredible stress. The frequency with which they face terrible situations is as sobering as it is admirable. In the very least, the condition examined in this article reminds us that social workers, and not just the people they care for, need supportive and caring communities.

 

Christopher S. Yates cCYS

Youngs Jr., G.A., Rathge, R., Mullis, R., & Mullis, A. (1990, Summer). Adolescent stress and self-esteem. Adolescence, 25 (98), 333.

OVERVIEW

There is a general feeling among youth workers that today’s adolescents are under more stress than previous generations. Little has been done to measure the stress levels or their effects on adolescents. Lewko (1987) found that parents under social and economic stress communicated it to the children. Other stress causing factors include life situation changes in many areas of an adolescent’s life. Such stress has been related to delinquent conduct (Novy and Donahue, 1985), academic performance (Fontana & Dourdo, 1984), and classroom burnout (Finian & Cross, 1986). Two studies (Johnson & McCutcheon, 1980) and (Kroger, 1980) showed stress to be related to self-esteem, although neither quantified the effects. This study was administered to quantify the effects of life changes causing stress on self-esteem.

Measuring stress in adolescents is complex, since life events can be positive or negative. And some stress is healthy. Several researchers feel it should be diagnosed simply by measuring the number of stressful events (from a pre-determined list) occurring to students. This study also measures the perceived intensity of each event to the adolescent.

DESIGN

The study was conducted among 2,154 high school students in North Dakota. The sample was spread evenly among male and female and across 9th through 12th grades as part of a larger study on career decisions. The students were from six urban (community larger than 2,500) and twelve rural (smaller than 2,500) community schools.

The surveys used were standard Life Experience Surveys. The Stress Life Experience survey listed 36 events that could be negative or positive. Scoring for this survey considered the number of experiences such as changing schools, illness, and boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. Each experience was rated by the student for the positive or negative effect (on a scale from +3 to -3, with 0 being no effect).

The Self-Esteem Inventory lists 58 evaluative self attitudes which are responded to as "like me" or "unlike me." Scoring for each attitude was determined to be either positive or negative self-esteem.

FINDINGS

The results showed that as the number of stressful life experiences increased (overall stress), the level of self-esteem decreased. The events causing negative effect were stronger per event. Positive events had only slight effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The experience of negative stressful events is a primary contributor to lowered self-esteem. In fact, self-esteem seems to suffer to some extent even if students respond positively to objectively negative events such as divorce. Perhaps the mere experience of stressful events, even those positively perceived, leaves adolescents with an awareness that they are not in as much control of their lives as they would like to think.

CRITIQUE AND EVALUATION

There are two immediate concerns with this study: the determining population level (2,500) between rural and urban communities and the way the intensity of events was measured. A community of 2,500 seems to still be somewhat rural; the dividing population should probably be higher. Also, the low perceived impact of events came from the students reflecting on the past with the attitude, "Whew, that wasn’t so bad." Overall, the study is credible.

IMPLICATIONS

1. Stress does seem to affect self-esteem negatively.
2. Self-esteem of stressed adolescents should be monitored and encouraged.
3. Efforts of encouragement should be particularly intense when stress experience is negative.
4. Encouragement should remain high even if positive events or positive reactions to negative events are reported.

Corban Cofer cCYSSTRESS RESOURCES

ORGANIZATIONS

American Association for Therapeutic Humor 
4534 Butler Drive, Glendale, AZ 85302. This organization exists to educate health care professionals and the general public about the values and therapeutic uses of humor and laughter.

The American Institute of Stress 
124 Park Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703 . A non-profit clearinghouse for information about stress 

American Psychological Society 
1010 Vermont Ave, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20005-4907. An organization founded to promote, protect and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in research, application, and the improvement of human welfare.

Center for Anxiety and Stress Treatment/Stress Release Health Enterprises 
4225 Executive Square, Suite 1110, La Jolla, CA 92037. A counseling and consulting service offering information and help for those suffering from stress.

The Humor Potential, Inc. 
50 Court Street, Plymouth, MA 02360. A company founded by Loretta LaRoche to alleviate stress through humor.

International Critical Incident Stress Foundation 
10176 Baltimore National Pike, Unit 201, Ellicott City, MD 21042. A nonprofit foundation dedicated to the prevention and mitigation of disabling stress.

International Stress Management Association 
A registered charity dedicated to preventing and reducing stress. 
U.K. Branch,  P.O. Box 348, Waltham Cross, EN8 8ZL, England 

Mendez Foundation 
601 South Magnolia Avenue, Tampa, FL 33606. A nonprofit organization specializing in prevention education and wellness training.

National Library of Medicine 
(part of the National Institutes of Health, of the United States Department of Health and Human Services) 
8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894. A biomedical library funded by the United States government. 

Stress and Anxiety Research Society 
A scientific and professional organization which represents psychology in the United States. 

Stress Less Inc. 
P.O. Box 699, Holmes, PA 19043-0699. Offers high quality stress reduction products and programs. 

Stress Solutions Inc. 
Stress management consultation firm. 


WEBSITES

The Stress of Life.com     
Broad information about various stressors and how to deal with them. 

The American Institute of Stress (AIS)   

International Stress Management Association (ISM)    
UK branch  

Stress-management-isma.org    
The web site of the International Stress Management Association. 

Stress and Anxiety Research Society (STAR)
A multidisciplinary, international organization of researchers who share an interest in problems of stress, coping, and anxiety.

Stress Management: a Review of Principles    
This site offers stress management advice from Dr. Wesley E. Sime, a professor in 
the Dept. of Health and Human Performance and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. 

Mind Tools Ltd.    
Stress management information from Mind Tools Ltd., a company dedicated to "helping you think your way to an excellent life." 

TeachHealth.com     
Online access to the book “How to Survive Unbearable Stress,” by Dr. Steve Burns 
and Kimberley Burns. 

University Health Service - University of  Wisconsin, Stevens Point 
Online access to Stress Assess, an educational tool designed to enhance one’s knowledge of stress. 

The Stress Management Society   
A site for those interested in personal and occupational stress management. 

Stressbusting.co.uk    
A stress portal, offering information about stress, stress management, etc. 

Virtualpsych.com     
Online psychology and stress management information from Dr. Scott T. Wallace, a clinical and management psychologist. 

About.com   
Stress management information. 

BOOKS

There are numerous books available on stress management. A search at Amazon.com brings up almost 1200 books. To that end, the following books are recommended by the International Stress Management Association:

Goleman, D. (1997). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam.

Greener, M. (1996). The Which? Guide to Managing Stress. London: Which? Ltd.

Holden, R. (1999). Stress Busters. London: Thorsons.

Jacobs, M. (Ed.). (1995). The Care Guide. New York: Cassell.

Kirsta, A. (1987). The Book of Stress Survival. New York: Fireside.

Looker, T. & Gregson, O. (1998). Teach Yourself: Managing Stress. Lincolnwood: NTC Pub. Group.

Nash, W. (1991). At Ease with Stress. Mystic: Twenty-Third Publications.

Patel, C. (1991). The Complete Guide to Stress Management. New York: Plenum.

Also, see:

Hipp, E. Fighting invisible tigers: A stress management guide for teens. Explores strategies for helping teens dealing with stress. Discusses effective tools and topics including relaxation, assertiveness, decision-making, and relationships. The leader’s guide includes instructions and activities for a group setting.

PUBLICATIONS

Anxiety, Stress And Coping 
An international journal published by Gordon and Breach Publishing.

The International Journal Of Social Psychiatry 
An international journal publishing original work in social and community psychiatry. Published by Avenue Publishing. 

International Journal of Stress Management 
Published by the American Psychological Association.

Partners in Health 
A Webzine published by Kaiser Permanente to help people deal with stress.

Selfhelp Magazine 
An educational journal written by mental health professionals.

Stressfree Living 
A magazine and television show dedicated to helping people cope with stress.