BACK TO SCHOOL STRESS

Has your kiddo been struggling with being back in school? Are they having a hard time concentrating, maybe they can’t sit still in class, have trouble finishing their thoughts, or it takes them forever to finish their homework? At the end of a long day, they might struggle to sleep because their busy brain won’t turn off! 

In this blog, we are honing in on attention and focus in kids. We want to talk about WHY your kiddo is likely having these struggles and how you can help them overcome these challenges naturally!  When a kid is having a hard time focusing or paying attention in class and has difficulty sleeping at night, it is often because they are internally overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck on overdrive. They are unable to appropriately adapt and respond to their internal stress and it shows up as having a difficult time focusing and paying attention. 

But where is the internal stress and overwhelm coming from?  We’re going to break the stressors into 3 categories: physical, chemical, and emotional.

Some examples of stressors in the life of a kid could be:

• Physical

  • Jumping off playground equipment, sitting for hours in a classroom, roughhousing with friends and siblings, or playing sports

• Chemical

  • Processed foods and/or sugars

• Emotional

  • Going to school, being away from parents + siblings, bullying, meeting new people, or going to new places

Stress is a cumulative process that can occur over a day, a weekend, a month, or even years. Experiencing stress in life is 100% normal and as humans, we should be able to adapt to that stress and keep up with it. However, kids these days are less adaptable to stress than ever before, and the amount of stress in their lives and on their nervous systems is much greater than in the past. This is why we see so much ADHD, anxiety, and sensory processing issues in children! In order for your kiddo to adapt to stress properly, they need to have a balanced autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the body’s automatic response to stress, and this system has 2 sides: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic is survival/protection (aka GO GO GO) and the parasympathetic is rest/relaxation.

To break it down even more simply: the sympathetic is the gas pedal and the parasympathetic is the brake pedal. Here’s how it works: when your child gets stressed, their gas pedal is stimulated. That is normal! The problem arises when your child’s gas pedal gets stuck in the ON position, yet they no longer have the stress that originally stimulated their gas pedal. Their body is reacting as if it is still there! The next stressor then comes their way and pushes their gas pedal down even further, and, before you know it, your child’s body is stuck on overdrive with the gas pedal pushed all the way to the floor. They are stuck in that “GO GO GO “ mode and this becomes their normal. They are running at a faster pace: this might mean that they are less likely to sleep, more likely to be constipated, and possibly even more likely to wet the bed, all because they are ignoring their bodies’ signals. This can be a vicious loop! In order to slow their busy brains and bodies, we need to build up their braking system – the parasympathetic (REST, RELAXATION, immune and digestive function, healing, growing, and developing)!

At Compass, we can help your child re-pattern the way their nervous system is working through gentle and specific chiropractic adjustments. As your child is under care, their sympathetic nervous system can begin to slow (get their foot off the gas pedal) and their parasympathetic nervous system can be built up (pump the brakes) to bring their body back into balance.

For parents who are looking for a natural approach to help their kiddo with attention and focus, chiropractic care is a great solution. Chiropractic offers a drug-free, natural approach to helping their brains and bodies calm so that they are able to do the things they are trying so hard to do every single day – like focusing in school, doing their homework, sitting still in class, finishing their thoughts, and going to sleep.  Yay for working brake pedals! The best part about chiropractic care is that it affects every system in the body. Digestion, sleep, immune function – all of these things are impacted by the nervous system, so when their system is calm and working with EASE, the rest of their body will be too! Attention and good focus are related to a healthy, optimally functioning body! We love watching kids’ confidence and resiliency grow when they have a well-balanced nervous system!