What are Adverse Childhood Experiences and how do they impact your physical and emotional well-being?
The CDC (Center for Disease Control)/Kaiser Permanente ACE Study was conducted between 1995-1997 and collected confidential data from over 17,000 Kaiser HMO members during physical exams. This was one of the largest investigations into child abuse, neglect, and household challenges that looked at later physical health and well-being. For both waves of this study, two-thirds of the people who completed the ACE questionnaire reported at least one adverse experience, and more than 1 in 5 experienced three or more ACEs. The greater number of adverse childhood experiences reported was associated with both physical and mental health challenges in later life.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are potentially traumatic events that occur in a person between the ages of 0-17. They include experiencing violence, physical and/or sexual abuse, neglect, witnessing violence at home, losing a family member, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide. The CDC estimated that up to 1.9 million cases of heart disease and 21 million cases of depression could have been potentially avoided by preventing ACEs. Women and several racial/ethnicity groups were at higher risk of having experienced 4 or more types of ACEs. It is believed that having 4 or more ACEs is associated with a higher risk of injury, sexually transmitted infections, maternal and child health problems, eating disorders, teen pregnancy, involvement in sex trafficking, and a wide range of health issues including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer to name a few. Additionally, when there are significant trauma experiences as children, it can impact you as an adult when you experience a new trauma.
Prevention of adverse experiences is one way to help protect children. This may include treatment for substance abuse for their parents, mental health care for parents (and sometimes children), and additional help from community resources for children and families. Common mental health challenges for those who have experienced adverse childhood experiences as children include anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder. The good news is you can seek help from both medical and mental health professionals to treat the medical issues associated with ACEs and alleviate mental health symptoms that occurred from childhood trauma.
Please feel free to ask your therapist to assist you in screening for adverse childhood experiences during your initial consultation. For more information about ACEs, feel free to listen to the attached: TED Talk about this very important topic.
For additional reading about ACEs, feel free to search www.cdc.gov
