How poverty affects the brain

People who grow up in poverty tend to remain in poverty. Poverty affects the brain, causing the person to make bad decisions and remain at the bottom of the social ladder. To cope with this, it is necessary to change the mindset.

Poverty forces to take wrong decisions

Poor people settle for poor performance, it is unwise manage money, do not set yourself a goal or do not seek it. And this is directly related to the brain.

Lack of money - this is not the main problem of the poor. First of all the matter in making wrong decisions.

For solving problems, setting goals and objectives of the prefrontal cortex is responsible. This part of the brain, located in front, right behind the frontal bone.

The prefrontal cortex is associated with the limbic system, which controls emotions and stores long-term memory.

More and more studies suggestSocioeconomic status and the brain: mechanistic insights from human and animal research.That when people live in poverty, the limbic system constantly sends signals of stress in prefrontal cortex, overloading it and reduces the ability to problem-solving, goal-setting and the tasks

Poor people are stressed all the time. They are forced to make ends meet and to fight against contempt by society. It keeps them in constant tension. Since the brain translates its resources on the experiences and fears, they do not remain on something else.

How to get out of the cycle of bad decisions

Despite the strong relationship between the constant stress and quality of work of the prefrontal cortex, even an adult who grew up in poverty, could change your mind and reduce the number of stress.

In the US, there is a special program of Economic Mobility Pathways (EMP), which helps low-income families out of poverty. The EMP fighting the root causes of poverty, fear, lack of control over their lives, a sense of hopelessness.

Poor people are stuck in a vicious circle: stress leads to bad decisions, and they in turn - to even more stress and a strong belief that a person can not do anything to fix in their lives.

We need to create a positive repeating cycle in which a person takes a step, achieves that what could not even dream of, and improve self-image.

Babcock, Elizabeth (Elisabeth Babcock), President and CEO of EMP

One small step can help earn money or just give a sense of control over their lives. Each small victory reduces stress and relieves the mind, freeing it for clearer thinking.

Many people involved in the EMP, went all the way from poverty to wages, which can adequately support a family. They did not just find a job, they have reached such a state of mind, which were able to provide for themselves and their children.

How to prevent the transmission of poverty from generation to generation

Poverty inhibits a sense of control over their lives, especially in children, who are held hostage to the circumstances, and can do nothing about the fact that his family lives in poverty. Children get used to think that the situation is hopeless, they are unhappy, but they can not change it. Collaborate on a change that helps a toxic belief.

The draft EMP parents are taught to maintain the stability and welfare of the family, manage finances and career. But working with children is no less important. They are taught to take care of their health, develop socially and emotionally, to govern themselves, to prepare for independence and strive to progress in learning.

With children growing in poverty, it is necessary to work in the same way as their parents.

E Race (Al Race), Deputy Director of the Child Development Center at Harvard University

Brooke Stephanie (Stephanie Brueck), the main coordinator of the project, worked with a single mom Dzhinell and five of her children. The younger the child, the five-year Sayers, needed an operation, but it could be delayed if to perform certain exercises. The doctor gave him a huge list of exercises, but the boy has not yet received all perform.

Working with the family, Brooke has set personal goals for Sayers - perform all the exercises - and to his mother, who was supposed to help the boy gradually reach the desired number of repetitions. Brooke Fitness has developed a plan that Sayers had to start with 5 push-ups, and gradually reach 25 listed doctor.

This helped the family get rid of the feeling of an impossible task. Later Dzhinell wondered how she had not guessed break a complex task into smaller and more affordable steps.

Such a plan can be applied to any achievements. You achieve a small goal, acquire greater confidence and make the next step.

And how do you feel about poverty? Can you defeat her, changing the way of thinking?