Taking on a sibling group can be quite stressful. While you may feel that it is important for the children to have you at home to bond with, it is just as important for you to be in the right frame of mind. Therefore, you need to make time for yourself and for your significant other, if you have one, after you have adopted a sibling group. You may not realize the amount of stress you are carrying around after doubling the size of your family until you take a break.

Sometimes, when I’m dealing with a child related crisis at home, I feel like I must be there to control the situation. However, if Super Dad can convince me to go out to dinner, I can relax and look at the situation objectively, and realize that maybe it isn’t such a crisis after all. Raising several special needs children can be physically and mentally draining, so make sure you are taking care of yourself. Then, raising your sibling group can also be very rewarding.

The October issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association had an article on the effects of chronic stress on the body. Chronic stress occurs over an extended period. Stress hormones (catecholamines, including epinephrine, which is also known as adrenaline) cause damage when the heart is exposed for long periods to elevated catecholamine levels. Stress may cause an increased oxygen demand on the body, spasm of the coronary (heart) blood vessels, and electrical instability in the heart’s conduction system. Chronic stress has been associated with increased heart rate and blood pressure, which makes the heart work harder to produce the blood flow needed for bodily functions. If the blood pressure is elevated for a long time, it can cause hypertension and can lead to myocardial heart attack, heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms, and stroke.


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The October 10, 2007, issue of JAMA contains an article about the effects of chronic job stress on the heart and the cardiovascular system.

• American Heart Association
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute

Photo, Super Dad's idea of a vacation. Him infront of the American Airlines Center with Dallas playing.

Thanks for the blog idea Rachel.