Childhood Stress

As I look through the list of major stressors, I think of what ways I have been affected by some of the items. Poverty, natural disaster, chaos, and violence are all on my list of experiences as a child. While I have experienced each one to some degree, it is hard for me to say that any one of these stressors truly effected my growth and development as a child. Each one of these stressors has made me who I am and made me a stronger person.

Each one of these stressors has given my family a chance to show each other how to be there for one another. Between natural disaster and immediate family death, my family went down the path of violence and poverty creating a chaos of emotions. That chaos did not stop as I grew up as my family continued to grow apart. I remember times when I thought my family was falling apart as my parents divorced and my older siblings continuously rebelled and moved away (even before they were 18). As a child, I don’t remember having one thing that I used to cope with these stressors. I remember clinging to my sister as a support system and the reassurance I needed that things would be okay. Through the poverty times in my family, my mom worked up to 3 jobs at one time to provide for us and we used food stamps for a short period when needed. Now that I am an adult I look back and realize that my family came out with stronger ties to each other than I could have ever imagined. Even as a child I knew that I had strong attachment to my family. The one thing that got us through it all was the understanding that we love one another. With everything we had been through as a family, we grew to understand that no matter what happens we would survive and be there for each other when needed.