The truth is that this conclusion of an American study published in the New Scientist magazine is quite sensible: “Children whose parents and families live constantly stressed have more illnesses than other children" And the reason is that children's immune system is affected by stress, making them more vulnerable to disease.
Investigators followed during3 years to 169 children between 5 and 10 years, and kept a record of the symptoms of diseases they suffered and their temperature. In turn, the signs of stress, anxiety and depression in parents were evaluated.
Finally, the total number of diseases was significantly higher in children whose parents showed high levels of emotional stress, and also had intense immune activity because their body was working harder to protect itself from infections.
Unfortunately, a counterproductive effect of the study is that already stressed parents suffer even more when they know they are responsible for their children's illnesses, even if it has been unconsciously. We already know that the “blame gene”Is included with the delivery and all parents have it to a greater or lesser extent.
But the issue is not to blame us but remedy, knowing what are the consequences of the absence of emotional balance.
The funny thing is that the scientists and psychiatrists of the study, although they want to find better tools to control stress in our societies, provide mediocre and insufficient ideas such as “introduce physical or recreational activities in the long hours of work that give the person moments of tranquility and relaxation of stress".
Anyway, a patch and not a solution. Why extend the already excessive working hours with games? The root of the problem, and we have already dealt with it several times, is that the current economic system neither favors healthy and attached parenting nor works with people without children, because stress does not understand birth rates.
The 10 commandments for work-family reconciliation are one step and another is that, rather than controlling stress, we put measures in our lives to reduce what produces it: less demands, less activities, more reflection, new values of life and society, more feeling and less having, etc.
Stress = illness, both in us and in our children (in the womb or outside it). The sooner we assume and act, the better.
