Emotional deprivation damages stress hormones

Neuropsychology specialist Dr Fadwa Brada told Arabstoday that a child's sense of being loved plays an important role in shaping his character in the future. Brada believes that a “lack of love” or “emotional deprivation” yields a negative impact physically and psychologically. What is meant by emotional deprivation? What are its symptoms and how can it be treated? According to Dr Fadwa, emotional deprivation is classified as a lack of the compassion that is necessary for a child to feel loved. This loss of love can be communicated to the child through several imbalances. The first of which usually occurs through the mother-child relationship. Some contemporary neurological hypotheses emphasise the importance of the mother in a child's life during the early years of development. Studies suggest that the natural growth of the child depends not only on being fed by his mother, but on her presence around him. Depriving the child of his mother causes an increase in stress hormones, which may affect his mental and psychological state in the long-run. Children who suffer emotional deprivation can display several symptoms including loss of contact with reality, feelings of insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, and anxiety. Brada thinks that the absence of breastfeeding could be a source of this emotional imbalance: “The child who is deprived of breastfeeding usually feels lost and frightened, and tries to compensate for this lack of love through rebellious behaviour.” “Divorce is also a potential source of childhood emotional deprivation,” she explains. “The split in the family caused by divorce makes the child feel torn between his father and mother, and sometimes even guilty.”