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It is my theory that the microglia within each of our brains receive their “directions” from how each of our brains interpret stress. I believe that our brains have the capacity to categorize stress into many different categories but I would like to simplify it into two. It is my belief that our brains, and more specifically our microglia, sense stress as that which it can handle (perhaps a deadline for a large project at work) and that which it can not handle or something over which it senses it does not have control (a personal loss from a natural disaster, such as losing one’s house from a wildfire).

If the brain perceives stress or a specific situation as one in which it has some control and can eventually handle, the microglia go about their business admirably. However, if a situation is perceived as one in which there is a lack of control and a solution is not attainable, the microglia in one’s brain will treat this as a “threat” and go into “defensive mode”, where neural pathways will not be allowed to be developed. Eventually, if one’s brain interprets itself under “attack” more than in control of life’s circumstances, the microglia might eventually run out of “unhealthy” neural pathways to dispose of and begin to dispose of one’s healthy neural pathways. This MIGHT explain the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, but how does it relate to a cute, little 1st grader who was upset because he didn’t have a snack during snack time?

I saw him run from the classroom. I had NO IDEA why he was running. I only KNEW it was my job to get this young man back into the classroom. This was my job, after all (This was also my MISTAKE). I followed him to the farthest corner of the school. I spent at least 20 minutes with this young boy. I tried every trick I know and then tried some other things. Nothing worked. He could not settle himself down and in some ways I made things worse. Eventually one of the Special Education teachers who worked with this young man came. As I was walking out the door, I saw her lower herself to the ground in the middle of the room and begin to talk in the most soothing voice imaginable.

Later, I asked her, “What did you do?” She replied, “I just laid down on the floor and asked him if I could get a hug. He just needed a hug.”

After school that day, the teacher came to me and told me this boy probably deals with food insecurity at home. Food, and snacks, are something that probably cause his young, developing brain quite a bit of stress. In this particular situation, I paid no attention to this fact. I wanted what I WANTED, not what he NEEDED! Of course I was his enemy, and I am willing to bet his microglia still remember this fact.

All of us are under huge stress currently. Be careful with one another and make the effort to understand each other at the deepest levels. To say, “I am not your enemy is not enough. It has to be proven, again and again and again, at the most essential levels of who we are as humans.