We know "toxic stress" can have a devastating impact on the longterm health and well-being of children. But how do we counter its effects? It turns out that strengthening relationships and building resilience is key.
Mental Health
Toxic stress can have a devastating effect on children's health, with consequences stretching out over a lifetime. Nancy Cambria offers a primer on the science behind our emerging understanding of the toll chronic stress is taking on young lives.
The story of Darlene Evans, a 45-year-old single mother of 10 children living on disability without a car, reflects how toxic stress can attack maternal health before moving on to impair prenatal and early childhood well-being.
It has long been known that growing up in impoverished and dangerous neighborhoods such as Ferguson, Missouri dims life prospects. But now a commanding body of medical research presents a disturbing, biological picture of why.
Before Jackie Valley tackled her series on the unmet mental health needs of Nevada's children, “community engagement” had not been something she regularly practiced. She shares how she took the plunge.
Toxic stress is becoming a hot topic in science and brain development. It’s also an emerging public health concern. Experts say the way to avoid toxic stress is through strong relationships that support children and their families.
Jennifer’s experience in Florida’s Medicaid system isn't unique: She waited three months for her son’s appointment and drove 50 miles, only to have the doctor spend five minutes with him, ignore her concerns and tell her to go someplace else.
“If you’re not able to provide food, it makes it difficult to feel like you’re living a dignified life,” researcher Darcy Freedman said. “It’s a basic need and the mental health implications are very real. ‘If I can’t provide food for my kids or partner, who am I?’”
Malik Stanton is among 2 million children in Florida — about half the state’s under-20 population — who depend on the state’s $24 billion Medicaid program for health care. That same health care system very nearly let him die.
There has been growing recognition in recent years that "toxic stress" can disfigure young lives in lasting ways. But how do health systems begin to address the problem? Daisy Rosario looks at how the Montefiore health system in the Bronx is tackling the issue through pediatric care.