The First 3 Years of Life
The first three years of life on a blog about alcohol abuse, mental illness, addiction, secondhand drinking…? You betcha!
The first 3 years of life on a blog about alcohol abuse, mental illness, addiction, secondhand drinking…?
The tremendous, far-reaching brain research being conducted as a result of the advances in imaging technologies, such as SPECT, fMRI and PET, is providing a better understanding of just how/why the first three years of life are critical to a person’s long-term brain health. To raise awareness about this fact and this new research, SAMHSA celebrates May 3, 2011, as National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.
Why the first three years of life?
It has to do with how the brain develops. At birth, we are born with 100 billion brain cells. How those cells “wire” – talk to one another – sets up the infrastructure, if you will, for how a person copes, learns, engages, enjoys life. Remember – we are born with very limited capabilities, yet 100 billion brain cells. If they were all “wired” at birth, we’d come out talking, walking, running, doing advanced math, reading, playing a musical instrument, and whatever else we do as adults. Obviously, we don’t. We come out with the ability to sleep, breath, eat, pee, poop, smile, cry…. Thus, how that brain cell wiring occurs during the first 3 years of life sets us up for how we proceed with our brain wiring (e.g., our coping skills, learning capabilities) and is primarily influenced by sound, sight, touch, smell — in other words, by one’s social environment and key care givers. It’s not until approximately ages 4 and up that children start learning on their own, e.g., by reading a book or doing searches on a computer.
As to the point of a child’s mental health and a children’s mental health awareness day, SAMHSA’s reported studies show that “young children exposed to five or more significant adversities in the first 3 years of childhood face a 76 percent likelihood of having one or more delays in their cognitive, language, or emotional development.” Five of the “significant adversities” include: caregiver mental health problems (e.g., anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar); domestic violence; caregiver substance abuse (notice — this does not refer to substance addiction, necessarily); maltreatment; and [a] biomedical risk condition.
Thus, coming to terms with the impacts of a family member’s substance misuse (abuse or addiction) on the brains of other family members and the misuser, him or herself, — impacts that can contribute to caregiver mental health problems, domestic violence, and child maltreatment (emotional, physical and/or verbal abuse, neglect) — and then finding ways to help all concerned is one aspect of giving children the best brain wiring opportunities possible during their first three years of life.
Children’s earliest interactions within the family are crucial to their healthy development and risk for drug abuse. NIIDA, “Drug Abuse and Addiction,” September 2008
So, please take this opportunity to learn more about children’s mental health. Visit SAMHSA’s National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day event page.
Lisa Frederiksen
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I’d never considered the impact on a child so young. And your statistic is shocking.
Thanks Lisa.
I found it stunning, myself – and yet, it makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing your comment, Carolyn!