Introduction
Shonkoff et al. (2021) define toxic stress as the body’s response to severe and lasting stress without getting enough support from a caregiver. When a child does not get the help they need, their body cannot usually turn off the stress. In this case, the lasting stress can significantly impact the child’s body and brain, leading to long-lasting health. For this reason, these papers delve into analyzing the impacts of such toxic stress on the mental health of black children. Also, the paper will provide an application section that delves into the possible solutions and strategies that can be implemented to mitigate this issue. This will also comprise suggestions that various stakeholders in the community and government can take to address these issues.
Description of the Issue
Toxic stress can drain the mental health of children, such as increasing the risk of anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and concentration impairment. Children experiencing toxic stress portray changes in their behavior, emotions, and withdrawal from their ordinary activities. Toxic stressors have left black children with less gray matter in their brains, which is often considered a byproduct of absorbing toxicity. According to Wagner et al. (2022), examples of toxic stress among black children include physical abuse, chronic neglect, exposure to violence, and economic burdens in their families, as well as inadequate support. Thomas et al. (2022) suggest that black children are 20% more likely to encounter toxic stress that leaves them with significant mental issues. In addition, most of the black children grow up in poor backgrounds without enough psychological support and often have low academic achievement. Similarly, witnessing violence in high-poverty neighborhoods exposes these children to toxic stress.
So What- Reflection
Personal Reflection
Toxic stress is a complex issue that has significant implications among children, particularly black ones living in a mixed population. Although stress can be tolerable in the presence of protective factors individuals can rely on, leading to better performances, toxic stress can severely frighten and threaten the mental health of a child. Also, without such protective factors in mitigating stress levels, children can portray changes in their behavior and emotional responses. I believe that living in a safe neighborhood can help lower the levels of toxic stress among children and improve their mental health.
Implications of Toxic Stress
Often, black children in the United America may grow up in high-poverty and more violent neighborhoods that expose them to risks of toxic stress (Villodas et al., 2023). In such regions, children often experience regular adversities such as taking responsibility for the family’s basic needs which lead them to toxic stress. For this reason, the child’s development is inhibited, their brain functioning becomes impaired, and they may consequently have learning problems. In the same case, toxic stress interferes with the limbic system of black children, increases in size, and causes significant signs of post-traumatic stress. According to Wroblewski (2019), 1 out of 3 black children in California suffer from toxic stress that is linked to adverse experiences in their childhood.
Similarly, toxic stress can lead to increased risks of suicide and depression among black children. For instance, harsh punishment subjected black children to the perception that they could tolerate pain and they were more mature than whites, commonly referred to as ”adultification,” which has its origin in racism and enslavement. This punishment and perceptions hypersexualize black children and criminalize them at early ages as compared to whites. Similarly, black girls receive less emotional support than white ones due to the notion that they are more knowledgeable in some concepts compared to whites. For this reason, they nurture themselves as the chances of getting depression increase.
Now What- Application
Based on the implications of toxic stress among black children, this section provides a list of suggestions that can be used to mitigate these issues. For instance, eliminating the factors and conditions that expose these children to toxic stress, such as poverty, discrimination, and socio-economic isolation, could be an effective way of mitigating toxic stress.
In addition, offering cultural competence care is another effective way to mitigate the issue of toxic stress among children. In this case, society and various stakeholders can offer compassionate treatment irrespective of gender or ethnicity. Also, developing healthy relationships with these children can help mitigate the impacts of toxic stress on the mental health of children (Clifton et al., 2022). Similarly, society and adults can help reduce toxic stress by guiding victims to heal from traumatic experiences through resilience and developing the capacity to overcome diversity. In the same case, seeking mental health care is another effective way to reduce the detrimental implications of toxic stress. Statistics show that black people hardly seek mental healthcare. For instance, 25% of black people consider mental healthcare, while 40% of white people seek it when needed (Nelson et al., 2022). This shows a considerable disparity between blacks and whites in managing stress. Seeking mental healthcare helps reduce the stigma associated with toxic stress and come to a solution on how to lower stress levels. Also, increasing the number of black therapists can be a unique strategy for mitigating toxic stress among black children. Although sharing ethnicity and skin color does not guarantee the best therapeutic relationship, black patients may consider black therapists to understand their experiences and recognize their respective cultural stressors quickly. Considering that only 2% of US psychologists are black, increasing their number would be a reasonable way to lower this stigma among black children (Atkin et al., 2022).
Conclusion
In conclusion, society can help soothe the black child by teaching them various ways of calming down whenever they feel upset. Seeking ways to know the origin of a problem and working toward solving its roots would help mitigate such issues. Also, encouraging family-based therapies can help lower areas among children and improve their response in managing them.
References
Atkin, A. L., Christophe, N. K., Stein, G. L., Gabriel, A. K., & Lee, R. M. (2022). Race terminology in psychology: Acknowledging the growing multiracial population in the US. American Psychologist, 77(3), 381.
Clifton, M., Boden, L., & Milton, L. E. (2022). Toxic stress in children and youth: Exploring the role of community‐based programming to support health and well‐being in the United States. Children & Society, 36(1), 137–148.
Nelson, T., Ernst, S. C., Tirado, C., Fisse, J. L., & Moreno, O. (2022). Psychological distress and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological services among black women: the role of past mental health treatment. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 1-11.
Shonkoff, J. P., Slopen, N., & Williams, D. R. (2021). Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the impacts of racism on the foundations of health. Annual Review of Public Health, 42, 115-134.
Thomas Tobin, C. S., Erving, C. L., Hargrove, T. W., & Satcher, L. A. (2022). Is the Black-White mental health paradox consistent across age, gender, and psychiatric disorders? Aging & mental health, 26(1), 196–204.
Wagner, R. E., Jonson-Reid, M., Drake, B., Kohl, P. L., Pons, L., Zhang, Y., … & Constantino, J. N. (2022). Parameterizing toxic stress in early childhood: maternal depression, maltreatment, and HPA-axis variation in a pilot intervention study. Prevention Science, 1–12.
Wroblewski, A. P. (2019). Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Parenting Stress, and Early Childhood Behavior Problems. University of California, Santa Barbara.
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