Anxiety and Sensory Processing problems in kids. How did we get here?

By Dr. Marie-Pier, Stittsville Chiropractor

We all know kids are more often dealing with anxiety, stress, and other sensory processing disorders (like ADD, ADHD, ASD). These days, many kids’ nervous systems are stressed out and overwhelmed. This leads to them losing their ability to ADAPT and overcome traumas, toxins, and stresses. Often kids are locked in a state of Sustained Sympathetic Dominance. When the sympathetic system (also known as fight or flight) is over-stimulated, they are wound up and can’t rest. That means they are often extra sensitive, easily agitated and irritated, and are not easy to calm down. It may also not allow their body to ‘shut down’, affecting sleep.

How do these dysfunctions happen in the first place? Studies show that a lot of kids experience bullying in school and online, spend a considerable amount of time on social media, and aren’t meeting the guidelines for physical activity. These challenges are putting an incredible amount of stress on kids, and it can keep their nervous system stuck in stress mode.

With an overactive sympathetic system, these kids simply don’t have the ability to slow down and connect with what’s around them. This can affect their ability to handle things like communication, eye contact, and social engagement. They are in constant ‘defense’ mode, which leads to less time in ‘growth and development’ mode.

At Oaktree, we focus on building health from within the body by strengthening the NERVOUS SYSTEM. As the brain and nervous system regain their health and function, they strengthen all the other key systems of the body including the brain, emotional centres, immune system, digestive system, respiratory system, and hormones. We often see kids improve in other things not directly related to the spine like allergies, immune function and breathing difficulties, as well as digestive trouble like constipation and indigestion (even though we're not directly treating these things). All this from a brain that is more connected to the body and able to calm down and relax!

In essence, our nervous system helps us communicate with the world around us and the world within us. For this reason, it’s important that everyone with a nervous system (i.e. everyone) gets checked to ensure all those connections are working properly!