The Devistating Effects of Stress

We all experience stress. Some of it is legitimate and other times we court it ourselves. Different problems can produce specific levels of stress and fatigue. As adults, we learn (hopefully) to cope and move on. But what about the effects of stress on kids.

Homeless children are confronted with stressful and traumatic events that they often are too young to understand, and this leads to severe emotional distress. Homeless children worry about where they will sleep on a given night, and if they have a place to sleep, they are afraid of losing it. Older children worry about being separated from friends and pets, and they fear that they will be seen as different among new peers at school. Honestly, these are all things that kids should not have to deal with.

They also worry about their families: their parents, whose stress and tension is often shared with the children, and their siblings, for whom they see themselves as primary care givers. More than half of homeless children surveyed also said that they worried about their physical safety, especially with regard to violence, guns, and being injured in a fire. One-quarter of homeless children have witnessed violence in the family. These have lingering affects and, sadly, can seem normal to children. The more they view violence, the easier it becomes to accept.

Homeless children also experience stress through constant change, and these stressful changes accumulate as these children grow older. The average homeless child moves as many as three times in a year. As a kid, I moved but had the loving support of a family and a house to move to. Homeless children are seven times more likely than other children to be placed in foster care. Twenty-two percent of homeless children experience foster care or living with relatives, compared with three percent of housed children. Feelings of abandonment can reside with children long after the grow up. It is difficult to shed the notion that no one wants you.

These conditions manifest themselves in the behavior of homeless children. Often, boys exhibit aggression, while girls exhibit depression and passive or withdrawn behavior. Most often, homeless children can develop extreme indifference at school, and overt anger with their parents. Despite significantly more incidents of mental illness, less than one-third of these children actually receive professional help. In fact, as the severity of the mental illness increases, homeless children are less likely to receive adequate health care. It makes me reevaluate my own situation and what I call stress.

I am not trying to minimize what we all go through because people handle things differently. But the conditions leading to the stress in homeless kids are formidable for any person, let alone children who lack a stable support system. We frequently deal with kids at Samaritan House and helping families is chief among our concerns. If you would be interested in donations items specifically for kids, please feel free. Toys and arts supplies are just two things that are greatly appreciated and can provide a brief respite from a chaotic and stressful life.

Kids should be allowed to be kids.