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Mother’s Stress & Her Child’s Brain

Mother’s Stress & Her Child’s Brain

I found much insight in your series Healing The Mind on Forest Lake Church’s website and recently discovered your website.  In one of your podcasts there was mention of a connection between stress during pregnancy and a child’s wellbeing.

I’ve often wondered if there could be a relationship between the stress my mother faced during her pregnancy with me and my mental health. After ten years of marriage, my mother entered her second pregnancy. During the 5th month she lost my father suddenly to bacterial meningitis. Neurological symptoms appeared in less than 24 hours of my father feeling he had the flu and passed away in the ER. Could you expand on this subject and explain the possible mental issues a child might be more susceptible to and the neurotransmitter /hormonal changes involved?


I am sorry to hear of your family tragedy and its impact upon your life. You are quite insightful to ask this question, which has to do with brain development and the stress response.

Let’s review the normal human stress response. When we encounter a stressful experience the brain’s alarm circuitry (amygdala) will fire directly stimulating the adrenal glands to release adrenalin and simultaneously activating the hypothalamus, which in turn sends hormone messengers to the adrenal glands to release stress hormones (glucocorticoids). All of this sounds rather good in the acute setting, but when one stays stressed over time these same pathways stay activated and cause significant problems to the body and brain. Chronic stress results in increased risk of obesity, heart attack, stroke, diabetes mellitus, bone loss and mental illnesses such as depression. These changes are mediated through chronic stress and the activation of the immune system with subsequent elevation in inflammatory factors, which damage insulin receptors in the body and glia (the white supporting cells) in the brain. Additionally, gene expression in the neurons of the brain is altered and proteins which cause neurons to grow and stay healthy (neurotrophic factors) are suppressed.

Now with this back ground we can examine your question of a developing fetus in the womb of a highly stressed mother. The mother’s brain and body would experience the biological changes as described above. The stress hormones (glucocorticoids) cross the placenta and enter the blood stream of the developing fetus. This rise in stress hormones impairs the “braking” mechanism in the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is what regulates the rise in stress hormones (adrenalin and glucocorticoids etc). Thus the child born from a highly stressed mother will have a brain wired to be more anxious and stressed and less capable of calming itself than it otherwise would have been.

In childhood this could result in a child who is more apprehensive, fearful, socially avoidant, and sensitive to criticism. This child throughout life would be less capable of handling stressful situations of all kinds including family and relational stress. When a stressful event occurred such a child would be more likely to experience anxiety, activation of the HPA axis with rise in stress hormones, and less capable of adaptive and timely calming of the stress response once the external stressor has resolved. In other words, once the crisis was over such an individual would likely stay anxious and aroused for much longer than would typically be expected.

Such individuals, who experience a chronic overactive stress response, are more vulnerable to both metabolic problems and mental health problems including depression. Sadly, it is likely that the stress your mother went through when she was pregnant with you did cause changes in your developing brain making you more vulnerable to stress then you otherwise would have been.

However, having said all of this, the good news is that the brain is pliable and we were created by God for adaptation. This means, that despite being born with a “preset” of heightened HPA axis reactivity, one can experience the ability to calm and slow the stress response. Multiple other environmental factors impact the brain causing the birth “template” to continue to change and modify throughout life. Events which would promote a calming impact upon the stress circuits of the brain include a loving, secure, nurturing environment, avoidance of high stress and relational conflict, particularly in the primary relationships of childhood. Also, avoidance of theatrical entertainment, developing a healthy spirituality and healthy forms of meditation, particularly on God’s character of love. And finally, a healthy diet, exercise, avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, caffeine, obtaining regular sleep, certain forms of psychotherapy, and appropriate psychopharmacology.

One of the founders of my church wrote a beautiful idea regarding the power of the Holy Spirit to heal both our hereditary as well as cultivated problems:

In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church. – Desire if Ages, pg 671.

So, continue to seek God, His truth, His presence, choose to apply His principles to your life and be hopeful – your brain (and everyone else’s) is constantly changing based on the choices we make!

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Testimony 11

I would love to have a copy of “Healing the Mind” DVDs to have in my therapy office. I enjoy having clients check out materials to enhance their therapy experience. I have sat under Dr. Jennings’ teaching at an American Association of Christian Counselors convention and respect his work greatly.

K.B., LA, USA

 

Testimony 40

I was brought up in a different faith and have been petrified my whole life of God. I believed that I would burn in hell for eternity. When I was 12 I started pursuing the things of this world, but for the next 45 years the Spirit was always calling me, as I knew there was a God through nature. I could see the vast sea of stars in the universe and knew there was something bigger out there. Five years ago, through a Revelation seminar, I was blessed to learn about God’s character and government.

Then I found Come and Reason Ministries and have come under some extreme pressure when I speak about the ministry. One time a member sent me an internet article titled “Whats wrong with Tim Jennings?” I asked her what she thought of it and she said “I don’t know, I didn’t read it.”

I have always wanted to find out for myself the truth about God, so I stayed with the Design Law construct and have been liberated to understand the big picture. Once we consider Design Law, all other Bible stories and prophecies seem to fit perfectly. It is truly beautiful to see people grasping how God operates this Universe of Love and the liberation it has provided in their lives. It blows my mind to see how consistent Design law is with what our founders believed. I hear statements like “This makes so much sense.”

Tom W., Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA

 

Testimony 22

I have found your Bible study class lectures to be very inspiring and useful as I prepare to teach class every other week. I subscribe to the podcast and download your notes on the weeks I teach. The audio and notes are such a great help in preparing. My own understanding of God’s character has grown as I teach the class. Commendations on the thought-provoking and well-prepared material Come and Reason provides. Personally, I get excited by the tie you make between the spiritual and mental/physical domains.

A.A. Corrales, NM, USA

 

Testimony 52

Your unique way in spreading the truth is what we all need today. Most of us don’t recognize the contamination coming from all the lies and selfishness in the world. Because of our fear of death, we forgot how to live. Lies left and right. I was losing hope and faith, because of so many ideas that are always contradicting each other – so many questions answered by other, more complicated, questions – until I found your channel on YouTube.

You did not just give me answers, you also taught me how to answer new questions that arise in my mind. Now I see things differently. I see God’s mercy, grace, and Love everywhere, in spite of all the chaos that we all have done as humans. I don’t fear death anymore. Accepting the Truth and Love about God is truly a genuine Freedom from all the confusions, sufferings, selfishness, pain, and death.

I just wanted to say, thank you, sooooo much for revealing the real Remedy for our infected life. I have a new hope and now see the world in a different perspective!

Wheinny P., University Place, WA, USA

 

Testimony 36

Thank you and may God continue to bless you as you share with others the intricacies of how we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made”. I must share that you have opened a whole new world to me, and I have found tremendous healing through what you have shared in two of your books, “Could It Be This Simple?” and “The God Shaped Brain.” I praise God for what you shared, what I have learned, and how I have grown and healed! My prayer is that My Precious Jesus will be seen by others in the way I live, act, talk, etc. and they may be encouraged to know He is truly a GREAT God of LOVE, desiring that no one should perish! God Bless you in your continued endeavors to present Him as He really is!

Joleen H. GA, USA

 

Testimony 51

I Love This Ministry!!!!!!! I see first hand how this message is desperately needed, how erroneous beliefs about God and His Character negatively affect humanity at every level. I thank God for your ministry, as I was searching on my own and was discovering some of your same beliefs and was blown away when I found your ministry. I know you hear it all the time, but it is truly life changing. May God continue to reveal His Will to you and Bless you!

Eric S., Sanford, FL, USA

 

Testimony 26

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 3

My husband is a pastor and I listen to your lesson almost every week. Thank you for helping me in my study life and to help me love the “real” God more.

C. F., NC, USA

 

Testimony 43

Two years ago I stumbled upon your book, “Could It Be This Simple,” and then found “The God-Shaped Brain” videos on YouTube, your bible study class, and the ‘Come And Reason’ mobile app. I shared your book with a friend and after nine months of showing love, patience, and kindness this person has been changed by the love of God, too. The same love that healed me, I now express to other women in tangible ways, such as to a Baptist woman with high anxiety and childhood trauma. She was extremely happy and relieved when I shared about the so-called “judgment of God” and burning in hell. She had no desire to serve a God that was so harsh. I have repeated the phrase dozens of times to her. “What we believe has power over us, but we have power over what we believe…”

This message that you are sharing has changed my life. I will continue to serve other women and bring this message of God’s healing love to their lives by sharing your books, YouTube videos, and The Remedy Bible app. Keep up the good work. Don’t be discouraged. God is doing a mighty work in and through this ministry!

Jill L., Midwest, USA

 

Testimony 58

I have been watching your videos in The Power of Love seminar and I must say these have liberated me and have improved my relationship with the Lord. I am no longer terrified of him as I was before following your teachings.

Thando N., South Africa

 

Testimony 10

I personally download and listen to each of Come And Reason Ministries Bible study class lessons and PDF study notes to use when teaching my class. Really appreciate the class especially when Dr. Jennings is teaching. Thank God there are persons like him doing His work and traveling to share His beliefs.

B. L.M., North Plains, OR, USA

 

Testimony 53

I was so blessed by a friend who gave me your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” while I was sitting in church asking God to please help me learn more about Him and help me not to be so confused and scared. That was about 2 years ago. Your books have helped me to love God even more. I’m not confused or scared anymore! I have listened to all of your bible study classes and feel like I know the wonderful people that attend every week. Thank you for all that you’re doing in spreading the true message about God and His law of love. God bless you and your whole class.

Elssy P., Modesto, CA, USA

 

Testimony 76

Warm greetings from Tanzania! I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and your team at Come And Reason Ministries for the amazing work you do. Your teachings have opened my eyes to deep biblical truths and how to live them out in real life. I started following the ministry back in 2018, and ever since, my walk with God has grown so much stronger. I’ve found freedom from fear-based faith and now live with more peace and trust in Him. I’ve also been sharing what I’ve learned, especially through Bible School discussions. Your lessons are so insightful and well-explained that I try not to miss a single one. May God continue to bless the work you’re doing.
Elisha M., Tanzania, Africa

Testimony 65

I have been tuning into your weekly study classes for a while now and wanted express my appreciation for the teachings that ha been a huge blessing in opening up the true message of the word. Viewing scripture under an imposed law theory always, without fail, raised more questions, concerns, and conflicting scripture interpretations that were discouraging at the very least. Looking at scripture through the design law lens has brought more truth to light for me personally and an understanding of our Heavenly Father that places Him “above all others,” where I am now more than thrilled to witness and serve Him.  I “stumbled” across this ministry a year or so ago and would only watch a few minutes at a time. But the more I listened and the longer I paid attention, the more my spiritual eyes were opened to the ever present truths of scripture. The comprehension of the great controversy and it’s origin by the lies perpetrated and perpetuated throughout the Bible on the attack of God’s character and government is truly priceless. Keep up the Good Work! Your servanthood is desperately needed in such a time as this!

Jeff D., Reading, MA, USA

 

Testimony 8

Thank you for the ministry you are sharing with us, it is a real blessing to us and especially to my husband and myself! You are encouraging us to think for ourselves and not just to except everything, without thinking it through, with God’s word!

M.K., USA