Salem Witch Trials Case Study

This paper investigates how the Salem witch trials could have been the outcome of Puritan girls having undergone great deals of stress, thus leading the girls to exhibit unusual behaviors. The stressors that Puritan women of the time would have been experiencing, as well as the stressors placed upon the group of afflicted girls as a result of their afflictions, would have placed a lot of pressure upon the afflicted girls prior to the Salem witch trials. Studies have shown that stress affects the minds of women much more profoundly than it affects the brains of men. Similarly, stress has been known to have a greater and more negative impact upon children and teenagers than upon any other age group, thus leaving the Salem susceptible to the influences of stress. Mental disorders with symptoms similar to those experienced by the afflicted girls in Salem have been identified, including functional disorders. It is very likely that if the cause of the afflicted girls’ behaviors can be diagnosed as stress, then stress could be labeled as an underlying cause of the Salem witch trials since the Puritan girls’ afflictions were what ultimately led to the widespread fear of

According to an article written by Paul Tough (2016), large amounts of stress experienced in childhood can alter a child’s brain development, resulting in the child having to endure an increase in blood pressure and levels of stress hormones throughout the course of their life. Such alterations in neurological and physiological development could ultimately lead to changes in a child’s behavior since excessive amounts of stress can negatively influence a person’s decision-making behavior (Hollon, Burgeno & Phillips, 2015). Hence, when placed under a great deal of stress, children experience negative changes mentally, physically, and