Are you causing brain damage to your child?

“Our parents used to beat us, we turned out fine!”

“This is all new age rubbish gyaan, we will beat our kids if they misbehave”

We have heard this from many parents/grandparents. But why do schools tell us not to hit our children?

A ground breaking new study has shown that traumatic or stressful events in childhood may lead to tiny changes in key brain structures that can now be identified decades later. The study is the first to show that trauma or maltreatment during a child’s early years can trigger changes in specific sub-regions of the amygdala and the hippocampus.

Once these changes occur, researchers believe the affected regions of the brain may not function as well, potentially increasing the risk of developing mental health disorders as adults during times of stress. "Now that we can actually identify which specific sub-regions of the amygdala or the hippocampus are altered by incidents of childhood abuse, trauma or mistreatment, we can start to focus on how to mitigate or even potentially reverse these changes,” said Peter Silverstone, one of a team of eight researchers who conducted the study.

So, dear parents, please learn emotional self-regulation techniques, so that when your child is misbehaving (inability to regulate or understand feelings) you can model healthy coping strategies, without the need to become violent or verbally abusive.

Remember: your shouting and hitting is causing brain damage in your children!

Happy Parenting! - Source: Effects of childhood adversity on the volumes of the amygdala subnuclei and hippocampal subfields in individuals with major depressive disorder, Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience.

Pritha Saha is a counselling psychologist and Mindset Transformation Coach who specializes in adulthood related issues like Stress and Anger management, Healthy Relationships, Law of Attraction Coach and Mindfulness. She conducts trainings in schools, colleges and corporate offices.