Blog 3; Post A: Shipler, Chapter 8: Body & Mind

In this chapter, Shipler says: "The difficult conditions in which lower-income people live, their vulnerability to disease and stress, are now seen as affecting the brain itself." (Page 218).  We are to answer based on our reading how we think this process works.

This was actually an interesting read and something that has never crossed my mind before.

The process is clear:  a person who is poor has limited means to proper nutrition, and the foods they often eat lack the vitamins and minerals that the brain needs to properly function. Life of a poor person has a vicious cycle.  We begin with the daily stressors of life, lack of quality food, housing issues, lack of income, job insecurity, etc. and because our minds and bodies are always on high alert, our bodies are on high stress mode.  And we all know that when we are on high stress mode, our bodies immune system is weakened, which in turn makes our bodies vulnerable to disease.  If our natural defenses are down, then we get sick, either through a cold, body aches or depression.  Depending on the severity of the illness, we have to miss work, which adds to the cycle of stress because minimum wage jobs don't get paid sick days.  And if we don't get paid, bills aren't going to get paid, groceries are not going to appear on the table, and at the end of the month, our belongings could be out in the street.  Life of a poor working person is hard.  We also know that stress affects the brain in many levels.  Poor people are higher likely to snuffer from depression.

                                            

An idea that I always seem to hear is that people are born into poverty and once they are in it, it is hard to escape the vicious cycle.  Chapter 8 touches on this by saying that, "The damage that malnutrition does to the brain development and physical health is stealthy, because it precedes the retarded growth that usually sounds the alarm." (p.215)  "The most sensitive periods of brain growth comes during the last trimester of pregnancy and the fist two years after birth....malnutrition in the third semester retards their maturation and inhibits the production of branched cells called glia."  That being said Shipler uses research to come to the conclusion that babies in womb are affected by their mother's poor eating habits.  They are born with lesser chance of a healthy start.  If their brains are not properly developed they will have problems in the learning process at school when they get older.  If they have problems at school whether it be learning, physical and/or emotional disabilities, they will end up with dead-end jobs,and will likely face the same struggles as their parents. 

Shipler, D. (2005). The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Vintage Books

http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Nutrition-and-mental-health.html