Helping Families Caring for Individuals with Autism Handle Stress
Helping Families Caring For Individuals With Autism Manage Stress
Lessons learned from the front lines By: B. Madeleine Goldfarb, MA Executive Director Noah’s Ark Institute
I have the unusual, gratifying, and yes, at times paradoxical role of both professional working in the autism field as well as parent of a child on the spectrum. This gives me some unique insights into the subject of autism and coping with stress. First, let’s define stress. Our friends at Wikipedia tell us that stress is: a term in psychology and biology, first coined in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become a commonplace term of popular parlance. It refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Stress symptoms commonly include a state of alarm and adrenaline production, short-term resistance as a coping mechanism, and exhaustion, as well as irritability, muscular tension, inability to concentrate and a variety of physiological reactions such as headache and elevated heart rate. Alarm is the first stage. When the threat or stressor is identified or realized, the body's stress response is a state of alarm. During this stage adrenaline will be produced in order to bring about the fightor-flight response. There is also some activation of the HPA axis, producing cortisol.
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Resistance is the second stage. If the stressor persists, it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. Although the body begins to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted. Exhaustion is the third and final stage... At this point, all of the body's resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. The initial autonomic nervous system symptoms may reappear (sweating, raised heart
Lessons learned from the front lines By: B. Madeleine Goldfarb, MA Executive Director Noah’s Ark Institute
I have the unusual, gratifying, and yes, at times paradoxical role of both professional working in the autism field as well as parent of a child on the spectrum. This gives me some unique insights into the subject of autism and coping with stress. First, let’s define stress. Our friends at Wikipedia tell us that stress is: a term in psychology and biology, first coined in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become a commonplace term of popular parlance. It refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Stress symptoms commonly include a state of alarm and adrenaline production, short-term resistance as a coping mechanism, and exhaustion, as well as irritability, muscular tension, inability to concentrate and a variety of physiological reactions such as headache and elevated heart rate. Alarm is the first stage. When the threat or stressor is identified or realized, the body's stress response is a state of alarm. During this stage adrenaline will be produced in order to bring about the fightor-flight response. There is also some activation of the HPA axis, producing cortisol.
1|Page Noah’s Ark Institute©
Resistance is the second stage. If the stressor persists, it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. Although the body begins to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted. Exhaustion is the third and final stage... At this point, all of the body's resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. The initial autonomic nervous system symptoms may reappear (sweating, raised heart