This Post is for educational and awareness purposes only. The terms narcissist, sociopath, and psychopath are used as descriptors to identify toxic and harmful personality traits. The said terms are not intended to diagnose anyone with any disorder.
Today we're explaining ACEs Adverse Childhood experiences, their causes and effects, and how we can beat the statistics by healing and breaking the cycle of abuse.
What are ACEs?
Adverse Childhood experiences are potentially traumatic events that may happen between birth and age 17. These are critical developmental years that can impact the future trajectory of your life, your physical, and mental health.
According to American SPCC, “Researchers determined that 10 specific traumatic childhood experiences, or ACEs, could be linked to a higher likelihood of health challenges later in life, and that the likelihood of these negative effects increased with the number of “ACEs” a child experienced.
The 10 ACEs were defined as the following childhood experiences:
Physical, sexual or verbal abuse
Physical or emotional neglect
Separation or divorce
A family member with mental illness
A family member addicted to drugs or alcohol
A family member who is in prison
Witnessing a parent being abused
Still, there are variables this quiz doesn’t account for – including stressors outside of the home, as well as the important role positive influences play on buffering the effects of trauma.”
Having a high ace score does not take account for every trauma someone could have in their life like bullying and harassment from peers, something that caused an injury in some form of accident, and discrimination against your race, sexuality, sex, or gender. These events can be just as damaging, but ACEs primarily focus on home life with parents, caregivers, and close family members.
The importance of ACEs are to bring awareness to the detrimental effects that a toxic home environment has on a child into their adulthood. The statistics are not good, but do shed light onto why survivors of abuse do struggle with more than just their mental wellbeing from their painful childhoods.
Let's talk about the statistics and outcomes.
The CDC states that, “ACEs are common. About 64% of adults in the United States reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18. Nearly one in six (17.3%) adults reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs.7
Preventing ACEs could potentially reduce many health conditions. Estimates show up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases potentially could have been avoided by preventing ACEs.”
So many people believe that many health conditions are inherited, and some really are to an extent, but the lifestyle you live, stress levels, and trauma you face factor in so much. Genes and shared habits are the top contributors. Generational trauma is passed down from family member to family member over and over again. This thinking makes everyone just accept that they will inherit health conditions whether they are physical or mental health related. When it's not always true.
Survivors are often invalidated for saying that their mental or physical health was destroyed or altered because of their upbringing and are shamed for placing the blame where it should be - on the people who caused suffering and eventually caused these complications to develop. A child's brain development when abused is altered and poses many risks. Advokids.org states that, “ neuroscience research findings that severe stress and chronic childhood trauma releases hormones that physically damage a child’s developing brain.
Toxic stress, the result of strong, frequent, or prolonged adversity, is the “extreme, frequent, or extended activation of the body’s stress response without the buffering presence of a supportive adult.”
Children’s brains develop at an early age, and toxic stress and the long term release of stress hormones weakens the architecture of the developing brain, which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health.”
Being forced to endure an upbringing of chaos and instability was never your fault. I want survivors to know that the physical and mental conditions that you may have developed are not in your head. You're not making excuses for not being able to always function like someone who had a healthy upbringing. Our brains as children were sadly altered by individuals who cared more about themselves than their children's needs.
We unfortunately have research to confirm that trauma can cause the complications we have to deal with that don't just affect our mind, but also our bodies.
According to Advokids.org, “
1 in 6 Adults experienced four or more types of ACEs
According to the CDC, at least 5 out of 10 of the leading causes of death are associated with ACEs.
Children who experienced four or more adverse experiences had 12x the odds of having negative health outcomes.
Studies show that females, younger adults, sexual minorities and multiracial individuals are at greater risk for experiencing ACEs.
Respondents who have experienced any single category of ACEs are 87% more likely to have experienced other forms of trauma.
Statistics on people who have experienced 4 or more ACEs without intervention show that they are:
5.13x more likely to be depressed,
2.93x more likely to smoke,
2.42x more likely to develop chronic pulmonary lung disease,
3.23x more likely to binge drink, etc.”
These statistics aren't positive. They can make us feel overwhelmed, upset, and like we can't change anything, but even though we can never change the experiences that have caused us so much trauma, we don't have to be defined by the experiences we have faced in our pasts.
It's important to get medical screening when we have symptoms affecting our day to day life to test for possible conditions to manage them if we unfortunately did develop any health condition, but in many cases, we can prevent the health conditions or manage the symptoms to prevent more complications down the road.
Listen to your body. We are often not heard or not taken seriously when we bring up health problems. We have to advocate for ourselves when we have health issues. If one doctor doesn't listen, we have to try the next. I know this is always complicated especially if you have limited doctors around you. Making a list of questions to ask before appointments can help.
What can we do to overcome the terrible outcomes of ACEs?
In order to overcome ACEs, we have to have a support system. A support system can be whatever you need it to be. A trusted person in your life, a doctor, a support group, coaching, or therapy. Social connections that are healthy are always wonderful to have. We are often limited because of the toxicity we grew up in, but there are many survivors out here who have been in similar situations and who also feel the same way you do, so don't get discouraged.
Know that everyone heals and functions differently than someone else who has gone through the same experiences. Even though there are Statistics that show us we may develop these conditions, we have to remember that risk doesn't mean that this is your fate or that there is nothing you can do about your health.
The ACEs quiz
For some, knowing everything they can about their situation helps ease their anxiety, helps them understand their conditions, and feeds the “why” that always seems to scream in the back of their minds. Taking the ACEs quiz I have linked in the description box can help validate your experiences as a survivor of abuse who has lived in a traumatic home environment.
No matter what the numbers say, you are the person who gets to determine if the statistics will define you.
TAKE THE QUIZ HERE.
The only way to prevent ACEs outcomes is to raise your children. Protect the children from the pain that we had to face growing up in abuse, domestic violence, and the toxic environment that altered our lives to break the generational cycle of abuse.
If there was toxicity in the home with a spouse or partner, early intervention with your child can prevent the negative outcomes ACEs statistics show. Support your child, give them space to communicate if they need it, and take them to child psychologists if they need to process anything traumatic they've experienced.
If you do not have children or are unable to have children, remember breaking the cycle is not only for the future generations, it is also to break the cycle for yourself. Break the cycle for your peace, sanity, and to protect your health to live the best life you possibly can.
No experience or test will determine your fate, but you can choose how you want to move forward with your life and who you want to be.
Sources:
Adverse Childhood Experience Study (ACES). (n.d.). Advokids: A Legal Resource for California Foster Children and Their Advocates. https://advokids.org/adverse-childhood-experience-study-aces/
American Society for the Positive Care of Children. (2024). Take the ACEs Quiz. American SPCC. https://americanspcc.org/take-the-aces-quiz/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 16). About Adverse Childhood Experiences. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/aces/about/index.html
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