Stress and stress-associated disorders in children

Abstract

Stress in childhood affects not only the current health status of children, but also their psychosocial and somatic functioning at a more mature age, which leads to grave consequences in the long term, as well as higher frequencies of use of healthcare financial resources. The ability of a physician to identify clinical manifestations of stress in children with somatic diseases or during dispensary examination, on the one hand, is important for prescribing adequate therapy, helps determine a preventive approach to the management of children with stress-related consequences, and also to form a relevant set of actions to increase their stress resistance and create an adequate adaptive reserve and reactions at all levels of the body. On the other hand, it is important to identify children under chronic stress (the so-called point of no return), who have a high risk of developing psychosomatic diseases. The article also discusses the basics of a healthy lifestyle for children that makes it possible to not only increase adaptive capabilities, but also essentially mitigate the effects of chronic stress. For example, it addresses recommendations such as complete and proper nutrition, regular physical activity combined with rest, coping skills training. However, the authors emphasize that the most difficult part of all recommendations is their direct fulfilment by children themselves and by their environment (parents, teachers). Therefore, the issues of compliance with the prescribed therapy and preventive actions become very important, especially in situations where their fulfilment is associated with subjective and objective difficulties. The authors tried to suggest some ways of overcoming the latter.