An Epidemic of Children Under Stress
“RANDY!” Rita shouted, horrified by what she saw from a distance as she approached her house. There was her son Randy, suspended halfway out of the top-floor bedroom window, 25 feet [8 m] above the concrete patio. Inside the house, Larry heard his wife’s hysterical cries and was jolted into action. Racing up the stairs, he leaped into the bedroom and grabbed Randy, pulling him safely inside. Randy’s parents needed prompt answers. “Why did you do that? Why?” they asked in disbelief. “You could have been hurt; you could have been killed!” “I wanted to die,” Randy answered indifferently. Randy was only five years old.
FROM all outward appearances, Randy was a normal, healthy boy. No one suspected that he secretly wanted to die. Yet, subsequent counseling revealed that Randy was a child under intense stress.
Like Randy countless children today are victims of enormous turmoil. Unable to find healthy ways of dealing with their distress, some vainly attempt to suppress their anxiety. But pent-up stress eventually finds an outlet. For some, anxiety that cannot be talked out will result in physical illness or delinquent behavior. For others, stress will be turned inward by means of self-destructive acts, including self-inflicted injuries, eating disorders, substance abuse, and even suicide. The Child in Crisis observes: “Many of these problems—especially suicide—were once perceived as the exclusive province of adults and older adolescents. Now they seem to be seeping down to the very young.”
‘How can this happen?’ bewildered adults ask. ‘Isn’t childhood a time of toys and play, a time of laughter and fun?’ For many children the answer is no. “Childhood as a time of undiluted pleasures is a fiction concocted by adults,” claims Dr. Julius Segal. This sad reality is confirmed by child therapist Joseph Lupo: “I’ve been practicing for twenty-five years. Today I see four times as many depressed child and adolescent patients.”
What is causing such unprecedented stress in children? What are the warning signs? How can children under stress be helped? These questions will be addressed in the following articles.