Somehow, I suspect, and I could be 100% wrong, that it's not all psychological. That there is something physical that is making kids less stable than in the past generations. But there is no doubt in my mind that it's happening.
Ten says it's cultural, I'm curious what he means by that.
You say there have been studies, I haven't seen anything that compares hypertension in today's kids with prior generations.
I believe its a physical condition brought on by the increasing stress that exists in our society. I've mentioned this before on this thread that I went through a difficult period in my life starting about 10 years ago. I was put under a significant level of stress over a protracted period of time. Out of that period, I developed asthma and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome [PTSS]. I became very sick and was put on inhalers. Prior to this time, I had had a full life, was very healthy and very extroverted. With the development of PTSS, I became a recluse, unhealthy and very introverted.
I was desperate to find a way to get healthy. Periodically, I would go on the net and do a search. Finally, I ran across a discussion of a new way to breathe that would reduce the impact of asthma. I quickly read over the theory behind this breathing method. It had been developed over a period of a decade by a Russian MD/scientist......Dr. Buteyko.
Buteyko theorized that the way we breathe determines the quality of our health; that the more frequently we took in air, the sicker we became. Ask any MD......the closer we get to death, the more we hyperventilate. Through scientific study, Buteyko eventually learned that the level of CO2 in our bodies determines our body's PH make up, and in turn, the quality of our immune system. He further theorized that diseases such as asthma, rhinitus, sinitis, diabetes, hypertension, allergies, obesity, depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc. were caused by an increase in one's breathing; that, in fact, these diseases were on the rise in the 20th century because our day to day life had become so pressurized and we had become so strung out by stress. The result was increasing hyperventilation.
Flash forward to the 21th century. What are the three diseases that are becoming chronic particularly among our children? They are asthma, depression and obesity. For the first time in history, some scientists are saying that the current generation of kids may not live as long as their parents. How ironic.........the wealthiest society in history and our kids's lifespans may be shorter than ours.
So what I believe is that these kids who are suffering from hypertension.....ADD etc. are in reality overbreathing. The more they overbreathe the less well their organs function. One of those organs are the Adrenals. When the Adrenals malfunction, you feel like you are racing......your heart beats faster, your breathing speeds up, you can't take stress at all and your emotions feel out of control.
In addition when you CO2 levels get low enough, the Fight or Flight Syndrome is activated. F or F is a physiological reaction that all of us experience when we are in danger..........our nostrils flare to take in more O2, our muscles constrict so that we can run or fight, adrenalin begins to surge thru our bodies to give us more energy, our level of paranoia is raised so that we are on heightened state of alert and our blood vessels constrict in order to restrict the flow of blood should we get injured. Its really an incredible function when its working properly.
However, in those who are overbreathing/hyperventilating 24/7, F or F can be induced when there is no danger. You experience all of the paranoia, anxiety, muscle/vessel changes and the adrenalin surges for no reason. If you stay in that condition long enough, eventually, you become chronically depressed. I think that's what's happening with the kid I mentioned earlier. Most drugs cause us to overbreathe.....and drugs like Ritalin are notorious in the buteyko world for doing that.
So what I think happened...originally, the kid was stressed out, began to overbreathe and became hyper. They diagnosed him with ADD and prescribed Ritalin. Ritalin caused his overbreathing to increase more and pushed him into F or F and depression. Because of his youth, I suspect he has virtually no control over his emotions........that's why I think he was crying so much today. I am sure on some level he thinks he's crazy.
For the record, I was in F or F 24/7 for roughly 5 years and did not come out of it until I started doing the Buteyko exercises 2 1/2 years ago. All I can say its like living in hell. It is very difficult to interact with other people and to maintain good social relations. Death seems preferable. Maybe that's why suicide is a major cause of death among teens.
ted |
