Stress doesn’t affect only busy adults juggling too many tasks at once. Stress in children is widespread, and everyone experiences stress from the time they are born, says Victor G. Carrion, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. “In fact, if we are not stressed, we won’t survive,” adds Carrion, who describes the vital role stress plays in human development in this video interview with Sonima founder Sonia Jones.

While good stress can help you thrive in many environments, such as school and work (i.e., push you to prep for a test or presentation), bad stress can be life-threatening. About 60 percent of all human illness and disease can be linked to stress, according to the American Institute of Stress. To protect your little ones from exposure to such dangers, including post-traumatic stress disorder, watch this video to learn more about the brain and how to minimize the harmful effects of stress.

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