 Children who experience physical, cognitive, or emotional neglect, say because their mother was sick and their father was busy, often face anxiety. As a result, their body produces stress hormones. If this happens a lot, these hormones become toxic for their developing brain, which then later can repress emotional and cognitive well-being for life. The real story of Daniel Rukarianu, who spent part of his early childhood in a Romanian orphanage, shows the full impact neglect can have. The story began in 1966, when Romania's then leader, Nikolai Ceausescu, wanted to make his country a world powerhouse, and came up with laws to increase the country's population. Abortion and contraception were declared mostly illegal. While the law led to a rapid rise in birth rates, many of the poorer families were unable to take care of all their children, and Daniel and around half a million others were sent to state-run institutions. In most orphanages, there were no toys, no books, or anything else to stimulate cognitive development. Many kids just stared at the bare ceilings, waiting for their next meal. Due to the lack of human contact, some babies develop strategies for self-stimulation, such as rocking back and forth. The cognitive neglect often led to lower IQ scores, delayed language development, and a lack of creative thinking. This happens because our brains build connections with every new experience and stimulation. If there are no rich experiences during the first years of life, the period in which the brain develops the fastest, children cannot build the foundations necessary for optimal future learning. They miss out for life. Daniel lived with over 400 other children, and their shared bedrooms were hardly ever cleaned. The meals were mostly tiny portions of boiled cabbage, which the staff would sometimes steal to eat themselves. Some supervisors used violence to control the orphans. Others encouraged the older kids to beat Daniel, to humiliate him and exercise authority. The consequences of physical neglect and lack of basic nutrients caused most orphans to suffer from stunted growth. Some children contracted HIV and hepatitis B as a result of the reusing of medical supplies. The physical abuse caused severe bruising and other injuries. The overworked and under-trained staff hardly ever soothed the crying children. In fact, they barely spent any time with Daniel at all. Some children were left completely alone with their worries. Others hid their feelings from the very people who ought to protect them since they feared being hurt. Emotional neglect and anxiety lead to an excessive production of the stress hormones known as adrenaline and cortisol, which is like poison for the developing brain. But the experience also distorted the children's understanding of love and human relationships. They learned to trust nobody, and as adults, often suffered from depression, insomnia and social anxiety. When Chausjescu's regime was eventually overthrown and the conditions inside the orphanage were shown on television, researchers from around the world came to examine the nameless children. MRI scans later showed that some had smaller volumes of brain mass. The resulting research made a strong case that not only is nutrition vital to a child's development, but so is human contact. To help the children, a large number were adopted into foreign families. But even after being adopted, many had problems forming loving bonds to their new parents. This aligns with the attachment theory and the notion that a child needs to establish a loving relationship with at least one primary caregiver early in life. Daniel was quite lucky with his family. While he continued to experience trauma and anxiety, he went on to have a university education, started a family of his own, and later he founded a non-profit organization for neglected children. If you grew up in a loving environment, count yourself really, really lucky. If you experienced forms of neglect, try to internalize the idea that it was never your fault, and maybe not even your parent's fault either. To read what we think can be done, if you have ever experienced neglect, read the descriptions below. One way is to share your thoughts about neglect and how you think it affects you today. This and all other Sprouts videos are licensed under Creative Commons. That means teachers from all around the world can use them in classrooms, online courses or to start projects. And today, thousands already do. To learn how it works and download this video without ads or background music, check out our website or read the description below. If you want to support our mission and help change education, visit our Patreon, that's patreon.com slash sprouts.