A Fairfield County study by the American Psychological Association says that when a parent loses his or her job, children are hit with the fallout.
“The downward-spiraling economy is taking its toll on everyone and schoolchildren are no exception,” said Middletown-based Robert Reynolds, a leading researcher in neuro-feedback training who conducted his youth-impact study in Fairfield County. “Many are too young to understand their parents’ struggles, but they do notice the tension from losing their homes to parents losing jobs. Money is tight and the youngsters begin taking on some of the same stress adults grapple with, which can be very unsettling and scary issues for children.”
According to the American Psychological Association, Reynolds is a sought-after resource in helping students, families, schools and individuals cope with attention, learning and behavior challenges across the human lifespan.Â
Reynolds said children must also deal with impediments to learning that come from moving too often, such as being shuttled to various day care providers or pulled out of private school systems for their public counterparts in an effort for parents to make ends meet.
According to the American Psychological Association, in 2008, more people reported stress-related physical and emotional symptoms than they did in 2007, and nearly half said their stress has increased in the past year. Common symptoms include lingering fatigue, headaches, disrupted sleep patterns, more frequent illness, frequent anger, irritability and tantrums.Â
“Our methodology in treating various mental and emotional conditions has always been skills before pills,” said Reynolds. “Effective tools like brain mapping, biofeedback, neuro-feedback, counseling and meditation can help children and parents cope in this unstable economy.”
Brain mapping is a new and noninvasive technique that takes a picture of an individual”™s brain wave activity while they engage in normal activities like relaxing, reading or solving math problems and identifies problem areas. Neuro-feedback therapy is then applied as a powerful method for correcting the brainwave activity through the use of gamelike displays on a computer monitor. Together, they can help an individual manage stress, anxiety and reduce depression.
Reynolds said easy ways for working parents to combat the health effects of the economy are to increase family time, monitor exposure to news and current events, not exaggerate money issues, promote physical activity and being honest.
