Early Childhood Stressors

The stressor I picked from the list is isolation. We typically think of isolation as a person trapped behind bars. However I realize that isolation in its most subtle form can be very damaging as well. As a child I grew up in a small community where my cousins and I lived on the same block. Our ages from the late 60s through the early 70s ranged from 8 – 17 old. During those years we had free reign throughout our community to visit each others house.  We had two rules, we could only accept food offered to us and we had to be home before dark. All of us except one particular cousin took advantage of the freedom but, this particular cousin always stayed home with her pets. Almost any type of animal you could think of she had it. She had a horse that was kept on a farm, rabbits, dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, baby turtles, baby alligators, snakes, birds, and even a monkey! If I wanted to see her, I had to go to her house and when her father came home I had to leave. She never had friends and I always wondered why my cousin never wanted to go to socials, parks and or ballgames. The answer to that question manifested years later when it was discovered that she was being molested by her father. Although sexual abuse would be considered a stressor, my cousin was also being isolated from her peers as her father used my cousin’s affection for animals to keep her at home. My cousin coped with this situation through her love for animals. She took very good care of them, nurtured them, talked with them and, slept with them. They were her comfort. The effects of the sexual abuse and isolation resulted in two unsuccessful marriages and broken relationships and she is currently taking several medications for brain problems.   

Out of curiosity I chose to explore childhood stressors in American inner cities. I discovered that many children suffer from pediatric asthma due their environments (Washington & Lee, 2010).  The biosocial effects of this disease effects brain development as the over production of cortisol is produced in the brain and gross motor skills are impaired due to the limitations regarding physical activity (Berger, 2009). Cognition is impaired due to the inability to concentrate and children fall behind on homework due to missing days from school due to illness. (Washington & Lee, 2010) Psychosocial development is impaired due to low self esteem from getting poor grades and not being able to form relationships with peers due to absenteeism  (Washington & Lee, 2010). Coping with this disease require support for the entire family as opposed to medicating children and sending them back into the same environment.  Unfortunately parents are at a disadvantage and have little control over neighbors who smoke etc. due to the lack of finances to move to a more desirable place. Unfortunately coping for these children consist of living one day at a time.