it's not possible to talk about health without including mental health it's estimated that about 20% or one in five Canadians experiences some sort of mental health problem at some point in their life mental illness is not an individual's problem it's actually considered a public health problem mental illness affects everybody either directly or indirectly it affects us personally it affects us in an economic sense the most recent estimate places the cost at around 51 billion dollar per year and this was back in 2003 intervention for mental health problems needs to start with prevention and I think parenting is very important over the past Century our approach to Parenting and its perceived impact on children has dramatically changed children are just little adults and should be treated as such Dr Spock prescribes tough love to Foster Independence harlo discovers babies use mum for food comfort and security answorth classifies babies as secure insecure and disorganized attachment in infancy is the bond or tie between an infant and their caregiver this Bond endures over time and space and it is a primary means by which an infant downregulates stress babies do experience stress despite popular belief to the contrary and it's up to the caregiver to modulate that stress secure attachment involves for the infant a sense that he she is loved and lovable and it manifests in a good uh attachment exploration balance the infant uses the caregiver as a secure base from which to go out and explore and to which to retreat under conditions of perceived threat so the stressed infant approaches the caregiver the caregiver responds and uh the infant's stress dissipates the infant's biology is very much attuned to the behavior of the parent to the point where secure attachment evolves in a child with a parent who is consistently sensitive an insensitive parent is actually causing the infant stress under conditions of chronic insensitivity the infant is unable to suppress that biological response as the stressor itself dissipates if the stress response goes on too long or it's activated too often our body begins to malfunction and so that very physiological response that was built to protect us becomes toxic to our health what the literature has shown is that insecure attachment is linked to atypical cortisol secretion insecure babies more often have common cold more often see their GPS or pediatricians Etc insecure attachment has been linked to all kinds of negative outcomes throughout the lifespan it's been linked to depression withdrawal anxiety aggression and a host of physical disease outcomes so we're beginning to think about attachment as a behavioral system that protects the biological system that's NE within it insecurity in infancy is very very malleable we know that very small changes in parenting lead to security there are several ways that a parent can optimize their relationship with the child and reduce that child's stress level first and foremost a parent needs to be sensitive that is they need to respond to their infants bids for affection in a timely a warm and a consistent manner they need to scaffold fold the child they need to protect the child from stressors that the child is too young to handle they need to balance their own needs with those of their child so uh they need to take the time that they need to recharge themselves and uh they need to attend to the needs of the couple the parental couple a couple that is not satisfied with their relationship will not be able to parent as well as a couple that is satisfied with their relationship and perhaps most of all they need to enjoy their child and to express that both implicitly and explicitly when a parent enjoys their child the child knows that they are enjoyable they can read it very [Music] [Applause] [Music] well