During my 22 years as a pediatrician in an urban area, I have seen the worst of what America’s children must sometimes endure. Severe medical illness in children is thankfully rare. But severe adversity in homes and communities is all too common and causes toxic stress that has long-term consequences for my patients and future generations.
A 6-year-old patient of mine called 911 on the third day that she and her younger siblings couldn’t wake their intoxicated mother. We cared for their physical needs by administering medications and intravenous fluids. The Department of Human Services cared for their safety by placing them in foster care. But their psychological needs were not addressed until they grew older and began to act out. What they needed from the outset was trauma-informed care.
Pediatricians know firsthand how challenging it is for a child to recover from serious psychological trauma without therapeutic intervention. Numerous studies over the last two decades have confirmed what my colleagues and I see every day in practice: that significant adverse childhood experiences are common and are well-correlated with negative health consequences later in life.
[For more on this story by DOROTHY NOVICK, go to https://www.statnews.com/2017/...ildren-toxic-stress/]
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