Anxiety? There's a thought...

Sorry, I have no new pics of Ty to share this week, but I have this fabulous photo of my beautiful daughter running the base path during opening ceremonies for fast pitch today! They also had a game and won 6-3, making them 1-0. Kace was up to bat twice, and she had one hit and made it home. She hit the ball the other time but it popped up and was caught. We are very happy that she had a good game.


As for Tyson, I have been trying for a long time to pin point something to describe him. At one time I called it "Anxious Attachment", but now, I think it's simply anxiety. This week we had a few episodes that we haven't had in awhile, times when he is revved up beyond belief and can't bring himself down. Total overreactions over things that don't go his way. Many people say, "Well my child did that too..." and then I think, well, maybe it's typical.

Then I read an article today, and it changed my thinking. It was published in March 2011, so very recent. Here is part of the summary of the findings:

Dr. Tottenham summarized her key findings:

Early postnatal adversity is associated with atypically large and
hyperreactive amygdala during childhood, poor self-regulation in emotional
contexts, and neural bias toward emotionally and away form
perceptuo-cognitive processing;

The amygdala is a long-term mediator of early postnatal adversity and later
behavior that governs social, emotional, and sleep behavior; and

The amygdala and its associated emotional development may be especially
vulnerable to early-life stress.

I have read many adoption books on the early stresses of life and how it impacts brain development and the fight or flight response. But this article really sunk in, explaining the parts of the brain affected. It also states how as a species we expect to be cared for in our early stages of life; but in an orphanage, that constant care from a consistent caregiver just isn't there.

Some think that Ty should be "acclimated" by now. To that I say that he spent 2 months with parents (we assume) then 2 years in an orphanage, only then to have his world turned upside down. Take those changes and add institutional living, and you have a recipe for major anxiety.

Proof of this still exists all the time. Change in routine, unexpected things, and strangers also set him off. So that is the new angle I'm examining--anxiety. Maybe by taking this angle I can try some new interventions at home that will help reprogram his brain. I had been making some good progress, but obviously I have slacked off because those behaviors are resurfacing.

If anyone out there in bloggy world has suggestions for interventions at home that might be of help, I'm open to suggestions.