You are a product of your past ONLY if you fail to acknowledge the effects of the past and seek to discharge those effects through a process of recovery and healing. The ACE's study demonstrates that what is NOT acknowledged and dealt with will haunt you mentally, emotionally, spiritually and, more importantly, physically, for the entirety of your existence.
Your brain is a recording device that stores trauma experiences in a subconscious archive that may lie dormant for years until a triggering event or episode suddenly lays waste to the rest of your life. The idea that "if I don't think about it, it will go away" denies the impact of trauma upon brain circuits, because if you refuse to think about it, it will gradually and insidiously find a way to destroy all your dreams and reduce you to chemical/behavioral addictions and mental/emotional impaired symptomatic functioning.
HOW DO WE STOP CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY
FROM BECOMING A LIFE SENTENCE
The ACE Study is one of the largest scientific research studies of its kind [between 1995 & 1997], with over 17,000 mostly middle income Americans participating. The focus was to analyze the relationship between childhood trauma and the risk for physical and mental illness in adulthood. Over the course of a decade, the results demonstrated a strong, graded relationship between the level of traumatic stress in childhood and poor physical, mental and behavioral outcomes later in life.The ACE Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente. Co-principal Investigators Robert F. Anda, MD, MS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;Vincent J. Felitti, MD, Kaiser Permanente, San Diego. LINK
PERSONAL & PARENTAL REFLECTIONS
ON ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
Prior to your 18th birthday:
Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? or Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? or Ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever… Touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? or Attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Did you often or very often feel that … No one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? or Your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Did you often or very often feel that … You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? or Your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Were your parents ever separated or divorced?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Was your mother or stepmother:
Often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? or Sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? or Ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide? No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Did a household member go to prison?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
Now add up your “Yes” answers: _ This is your ACE Score LINK
WOUNDS THAT WON'T HEAL
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are common. ACE data from the BRFSS was similar to that of the original ACE Study. Regardless of the data source, almost two-thirds of surveyed adults report at least one ACE, and more than one in five reported three or more ACEs.
The ACE score, a total sum of the different categories of ACEs reported by participants, is used to assess cumulative childhood stress. Regardless of the data source, study findings repeatedly reveal a graded dose-response relationship between ACEs and negative health and well-being outcomes across the life course. As the number of ACEs increases so does the risk for the following:
Myocardial infarction
Asthma
Mental distress
Depression
Smoking
Disability
Reported income
Unemployment
Lowered educational attainment
Coronary heart disease
Stroke
Diabetes
Mental distress
Depression
Smoking
Disability
Reported income
Unemployment
Lowered educational attainment
Coronary heart disease
Stroke
Diabetes
ACE'S, MENTAL HEALTH AND
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
"A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that children who experience six or more traumatic events in their childhood -- events that can include emotional, physical or sexual abuse or household dysfunction -- have an average lifespan 19 years shorter than those of their counterparts who do not suffer that degree of childhood trauma." CDC
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