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Emotional Resilience in our Children - The Building Blocks to Better Health

Mom and child face to faceEmotional resilience is the ability to be able to adequately adapt to the particular situation we are facing at that moment. The question I pose is why do we notice that sometimes we adapt with ease whilst at other times a situation we have faced often in the past seems to trigger a stress response within us?

Think of a toddler who is throwing a tantrum, it often can seem to be for the most benign reason. Yet in the same situation on another day, this does not trigger the same over the top response.

Your child’s body is designed to be able to adapt to reasonable amounts of physical, emotional and chemical stress. In fact, exposure to stressors actually helps build resilience.

Why is it then that sometimes after a sleepless night or a period of eating poorly we see our children adapt and carry on, while other times this can send them into a complete spin.

Increasingly we are noticing that emotional resilience in our children is challenged, I wonder whether this is due to the highly programmed lives they tend to lead, whilst they also navigate digital and social media. There seems to be less and less free time for exploration and creativity.

What we do know is that having a properly functioning spine and the nervous system helps the body to adapt appropriately to external stressors. When spinal dysfunction exists (Vertebral Subluxation) this can inhibit an appropriate response to stressors and lead to ill health.

We notice at Advanced Health Chiropractic that children who are getting their spine and nervous system checked are happier and seem to have better emotional resilience.

Katie Pritchard
Chiropractor


References
1.Feder, Nestler and Churney, ‘Psychobiology and Molecular Genetics of Resilience’, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2833107/, Natural Review of Neuroscience, p446-457. 2009

2.Chestnut “The 14 Foundational Premises for the Scientific and Philosophical Validation of the Chiropractic Wellness Paradigm’ , Revised Edition. The Wellness Practice, 2003.

3.Butler, Adverse Mechanical Tension in the Nervous System; A Model for Assessment and Treatment’, Australian Journal of Physiotherapy, Volume 35, No.4 page 229. 1989

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