Poverty,
how often does one encounter its obvious impacts in society? One would quickly
say quite often. It is everywhere and the impacts of poverty are noticeable.
The human eye captures the impacts on appearance, standards of living and a few
visible aspects of health, such as obvious malnutrition. Yet, what about those
impacts the eye cannot see? This question only leads to more questions. Poverty
also has an extensive impact on the brain and its functioning. Children that
suffer from poverty are at a higher risk for further problems in life. This can
lead to a struggling adulthood as well. Impoverished children can suffer from
depression, anxiety, lower brain functioning, and other disorders, such as
post-traumatic stress disorder. All of these being very negative effects of
poverty on the brain. These children grow up to be troubled adults, not all,
but a good amount to create a viscous cycle. It is highly important to also
mention that poverty doesn't only exist in the city, it is everywhere, like in
rural areas and even more in Native American reservations. Here, one will find
out about the impacts of poverty on the brain in depth, what areas of the
country are more highly affected, and other rising problems.
Moreover,
in order to understand the impact of poverty it is beneficial to know numbers
of poverty rates and impacts throughout the country. Cities across the nation
have experienced poverty at many different levels. There is no doubt that there
are areas that experience poverty at higher levels. Between the years of 2009
to 2011 American households shared that they had suffered from poverty for at
least three months or more. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013) At least 31.6 percent of
households represent these families. Although, the Census states that severe
poverty was "uncommon" being at less than 3.5 percent between the
years of 2009 and 2011, it is important to keep in mind that not everyone
participates in census reporting. Also, it would be difficult to measure those
families that are stricken by poverty that are homeless or constantly moving in
and out of households. Another thing to notice is that child poverty levels
have increased up to 19.9 percent in 2012 dating back since 1999. (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2013) Detroit, Michigan, is one of the areas that has higher poverty
levels, experiencing it as a 42.3 percent. Other cities in Michigan also have
high rates of poverty, such as Flint and Lansing, at 38.9 and 36.1 percent
respectively. Yet, poverty is not just common in the northern areas of the
country. For example, Athens, Georgia, and Brownsville, Texas, also experience
poverty at high rates. (Bloomberg, 2014) Poverty had spread all throughout the
country in the recent years. One should not forget the areas one cannot see.
Native American reservations actually suffer from poverty at very high rates.
An example of this is the Navajo Nation that has a population approximately of
180,462 , and of that total 43 percent live below the poverty lines. (Navajo
Nation Business, 2014) From rural to urban areas poverty strikes the most
vulnerable communities.
Furthermore,
the rising problems of poverty are demonstrated in the everyday lives of those
who are caught up in its wrath. The focus should begin at the youngest
sufferers, children. Often children are the ones that are impacted by poverty
at higher levels. Poverty begins at home. There have been many studies that
have recently created a link between poverty and impacts on the brain. First,
children at risk in poverty stricken homes lead more troublesome lives. Poverty
impacts children in many forms. Visible impacts are that in education, quality
of living, and nutrition. Pregnant women that suffer from poverty at are a
higher risk to suffer from stress, malnutrition, and other disorders. This of
course also has an impact on the unborn child. Even at a very early stage of
their lives children are already experiencing the effects of poverty on their
health. In recent studies about the impact of poverty on the brain researchers
have found that poverty stricken children have lower volumes of white and gray
matter in the brain. What does this mean one may ask. Well, according to the
studies, white and cortical gray matter are important nerve tissues that help
regulate sensory perception, speech, memory, emotions, and brain communication.
Another finding of these studies is that poverty also impacts other areas of
the brain. These areas are in the hippocampus and amygdala. The volumes of
these two areas also seem to be a lot lower in impoverished children. The
researchers at JAMA pediatrics state that the hippocampal volumes represent the
caregiving that the children are exposed to. The present link is that those
children in poverty had lower hippocampal volumes due to lower levels of
significant caregiving from parents or guardians. (JAMA pediatrics, 2013) The
hippocampus is important for short and long term memory. The amygdala was also
impacted by poverty according to this study. The amygdala is an area of the
brain that functions are emotions and memories. Impairment in these areas,
according to JAMA pediatrics, suggests that children can have lower
concentration levels, aggression, stress and traumatic life events. Yet, as the
children grow so does poverty alongside.
As
one continues, it is easier to realize that poverty effect people at a young
age. All things grow as do children. Even though not all impoverished children
become impoverished adults, the numbers are statistically high and success
stories are smaller. As stated before, studies have established a new
connection between poverty and impacts on the brain in children. Yet, what
happens to the poverty stricken brain as it continues to grow? There are many
answers to this question. On a social level poverty strikes in many ways, such
as poor quality of living/shelter which can lead to other rising problems.
Emotional distress, stress, anxiety, and other disorders can become an apparent
outcome of poverty not only as a child but also as an adult. Although there is
not a direct link between poverty and drug abuse, research have shown that drug
abuse is more prevalent in impoverished communities. This leads to another
impact of poverty on the brain. Drug abuse can have an number of impacts on the
brain. Stress and anxiety are also another impact of poverty. Going back to the
research on children, another finding was that those parents with stress caused
by poverty showed more negative caregiving mechanism. This also had an impact
on the amygdala, hippocampus and the regulation of emotions. Thus, suggesting
that stress and anxiety induced by poverty in parents was also transmitted to
children through the forms of support versus hostility. Therefore, the children
growing in poverty tend to have more problems managing stress and other
emotions as adults. This takes one back to the drug abuse because impacts in
these areas of the brain can also lead to risky behaviors. This does not mean
that poverty leads to drug abuse but it does create a possible link between the
two. Then, this shows that drug abuse also has high impacts on the brain such
as mental illness, emotional distress and unstable relationship that can
prolong drug abuse and or other forms of abuse. Another thing that poverty
impacts is the use of alcohol. An example of this is going back to the Navajo
nation, Alcoholism is at its highest rate in Native American reservations.
Statistics show that alcoholism affects this population about at a 514 percent
higher than the rest of the country. (Rex Lee Jim, 2012) This leads one to
become aware of the impact of alcoholism on the brain. According to the National
Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol can have highly negative
impact on the brain. It can cause brain damage, nerve damage, black outs,
memory loss, and other sense impairments. This is important to know because in
these reservation unemployment rates are very high which often lead to
depression. One can easily notice where the cycle is going. Also, in most
reservations alcohol is actually banned, it is important to understand how
poverty may lead to risky behaviors that might create negative impacts on the
brain. All of these taken by impoverished adults also impact the lives of their
children, and the children grow up to have struggles in such poverty stricken
communities. Thus, creating a cycle that is difficult to end.
Overall,
poverty has many impacts in the lives of those that face its struggle. As
mentioned before poverty strikes at birth. Poverty stricken children have high
risk for emotional stress, anxiety, and risky behaviors such as drug abuse.
Some effects of poverty are very visible to the eye. Yet, there are many
impacts of poverty that cannot be readily seen at first glance. An example of
this is the impact that poverty has on the brain. As research shows, poverty
may actually impact the brain on a few different levels and areas. Impacts to
the brain at a young age can lower its functioning and may lead to other rising
problems such as lack of ability to regulate emotions. As final thought,
researchers have suggested that one form to lower the impacts of poverty on the
brain is to create and form supportive caregiving mechanisms between the
children and their parents/guardians. The idea behind this is to help lower
stress for children and allow the brain to fully grow to its capacity in every
aspect. (JAMA pediatrics, 2013)
www.census.gov
www.bloomberg.com
www.navajobusiness.com
www.tribalconnections.org
www.ncda.org
http://archpedijamanetwork.com
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