Mental health articles

MANAGING EMOTIONS AND STRESS Infants develop ongoing and characteristic ways of managing stress and negative feelings. These are variously called adaptive and defence mechanisms and refer to various strategies that an individual uses to manage anxiety and feelings. Parents may directly influence an infant’s defence style by discouraging or encouraging certain behaviours. For example, strong displays of emotion may be encouraged in some families but not in others. Expression of anger, emotionality and expression of dependency needs are also socialised in variable ways. Stress tolerance develops along with the functioning of neurological and endocrinological pathways needed to tolerate high levels of stress hormones and to help the body respond to stressful situations. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (the HPA axis) is the neurological and hormonal system that develops during infancy and is vital for the response to stress and trauma. In response to a frightening event, the system releases stress hormones, such as
cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, from the adrenal glands. These
hormones prime the body for defence—the so-called ‘fight or flight’ reaction’, in
which glucose is released for energy and blood is sent to the large muscles. This
system is not functioning fully at birth but develops over the first two years of
life—hence, the importance of a parent who can modulate the infant’s emotional
distress. The young infant has an additional protective system that is used
initially—the ‘freeze or play dead response’—which is observed in many
mammalian species. In the face of trauma a young infant will freeze or remain
still rather than prepare for ‘fight’. This response appears to have developed over
the course of evolution and to be programmed into the human infant.

Tags: stress