Page 7 - The First 60 Days Magazine April Edition

From: Psychology Today

HELPING NEW PARENTS IS MORE

CRUCIAL THAN IT SEEMS

EARLY LIFE EXPERIENCES CAN IMPACT OUR NERVOUS
SYSTEM IN PROFOUND WAYS.

POSTED OCTOBER 6, 2023

By Veronika Tait, PhD

Fire can warm or consume, water can quench or drown, wind can caress or cut. And so it is with human
relationships; we can both create and destroy, nurture and terrorize, traumatize and heal each other. ―Bruce Perry

Hundreds of infants are being born every minute throughout the world. Some will be born into cold climates, some
warm climates. Some are greeted by large families, some by small families, and some are placed into temporary care
facilities. These infants are welcomed by a variety of cultures, religions, social classes, traditions, and practices.

Some infants will be lovingly welcomed by warm smiles, comforting embraces, and predictable care. Unfortunately,
some babies will be thrust into environments marred by chaos, unpredictability, neglect, or even abuse.

The Double-Sided Coin of Adaptability

Over the eons of human evolution, our species honed a remarkable capacity to adapt to a kaleidoscope of
environments. Our stress response systems are shaped by our early life experiences to help us survive in the world
we were brought into. However, behaviors that are adaptive in early life can quickly become maladaptive later.

When our early life experiences are safe and predictable, our stress responses become more resilient, we’re better
equipped to self-regulate, and the lifelong wear and tear on our bodies is milder.

A different story emerges when we’re brought into stressful environments. The impacts of toxic stress are
especially devastating within the first year of life when healthy brain development is imperative. As child
psychiatrist Bruce Perry wrote in The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog,

The fact that the brain develops sequentially—and also so rapidly in the first years of life—explains why
extremely young children are at such great risk of suffering lasting effects of trauma: their brains are still
developing. The same miraculous plasticity that allows young brains to quickly learn love and language,
unfortunately, also makes them highly susceptible to negative experiences as well.

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Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pulling-through/202310/helping-new-
parents-is-more-crucial-than-it-seems T H E F I R S T 6 0 D A Y S | 6