Poverty and Anxiety & Depression

       There was a study done in Australia that followed 2609 mothers and children. They found the mothers while they were pregnant and followed up with the children 14 and 21 years later.  There is significant data that shows that children that come from poverty have higher levels of anxiety and depression. http://ajph.aphapublications.org Sadly as teachers, we know that it doesn't usually take 14 or 21 years for signs of anxiety and depression to rear their ugly heads.  Anxiety may show itself in many different forms. A child may be withdrawn or they may have a random outburst,  Depression can also have similar side effects, regrettably, the root cause may be much deeper. Poverty can has direct correlations to problems that can cause problems with brain development. Problems with brain development can cause depression. An incredibly informative and interesting site about these relations is http://www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_398.pdf  Though in some cases medication may be recommended, I am of the school of thought that all other options should be exhausted first.  There are so many things that we, as teachers,  can do to calm anxiety in the classroom. Anxiety is an easier side effect to fight that hunger or sleeplessness. We can visit this more in depth at a later time. For now, it is important to be aware of what is going on in our classrooms.