CEDAR PARK, Texas – With thousands of children separated from their parents at the border, health experts said that traumatic experience could negatively impact them for the rest of their lives.
Erin White is a child psychotherapist in Cedar Park. She said it can lead to big issues like PTSD and cancer.
ABC reports that there are nearly 2,300 children who have been separated from their parents at the border since the "zero tolerance" policy was enacted back in May to June 9.
White said traumatic incidents like this can lead to many problems later in life because a child's brain isn't fully developed and because they rely on their parents for physical and emotional safety. She said trauma can negatively impact a child's future relationships, how they think, how they learn, and even their ability to speak.
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“For example, what we know about trauma is the first area of the brain that trauma affects is the area of the brain that's responsible for speech,” said White. “The research shows that when children experience trauma it can set their development of speech back an average of 14 months.”
In addition to delaying a young child's speech, White said the children are put at a high risk of other issues because in addition to the separation, they are put in unfamiliar territory and may not be able to speak English. She said even when they're reunited with their parents, the trauma will still be there.
“Trauma doesn't end when the event ends because the trauma isn’t just about the event," said White. "The trauma is about how a person experiences the event and what it causes in their brain and in their body. So, when a child is flooded with those stress hormones, bringing them back to their parent is going to alleviate some of that stress but it doesn't alleviate the impact of having those stress hormones going through their brain is going to have on them.”
On Saturday, nurses and physicians from across Texas are expected to rally in support of children and their families at the border.