The Lasting Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences

In the 1990s, Dr Vincent Filetti became interested in why patients at his obesity clinic consistently put the weight back on that they had lost. He started asking his patients more thorough questions and was amazed to discover that 55% of his patients had experienced childhood sexual abuse. Elsewhere in the US, Dr Robert Anda was looking at the psychological underpinnings to physical conditions like heart disease, and behaviours such as smoking and substance misuse. He also found frequent instances of childhood trauma in his patients. 

They came together and created the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) study. They screened over 17,000 middle-class Americans, asking them questions about their physical health and their childhood experiences. The ten ACEs factors included emotional abuse and neglect, physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues in the home.

The study revealed that a person with an ACE score of 3 out of 10 is twice as likely to develop heart disease. A person with a score of 4 out of 10 is three times as likely to be depressed. An ACE score of 6 out of 10 resulted in a life expectancy 20 years lower than the average. 

We tend to separate physical and mental health but, as this study shows, our body doesn't do that. Early exposure to trauma and stress also affects the structure and functioning of the developing child's brain. Scans reveal an exaggerated fear response, brought about by chronic stress, and less activity in the frontal areas of the brain that are required to regulate these emotions. Further studies revealed that an ACE score of 4 out of 10 makes a child 32 times more likely to experience learning and behaviour difficulties. 

We aren't born with resilience, we build it, if we're given the chance and have the right environment. Empowered with the knowledge about how much childhood experiences affect us throughout our lives, in terms of our physical as much as mental health, steps can be taken to bolster a child's resilience, prevent or minimise the impact of trauma, and end cycles of behaviour and experience that often get passed down through generations. 

Protecting children against the impact of trauma isn't as simple as striving to remove any hardship or trauma from their lives. The impact of trauma often depends on what support is available to you after the event. If you had to deal with difficult feelings and emotional pain on your own as a child, this will have left more of an imprint than if you were adequately supported.

Therapy is a great place to explore the impact of childhood difficulties on your present experience. I know not everyone likes talking about their childhood – you might not even remember it. One of the strengths of gestalt therapy is that we don't have to dig around in past pain. Instead we can trust that what is relevant from the past will reveal itself in the present. The things that need to be worked on will make themselves known through your present day difficulties and relationships.

A version of this piece was originally published on welldoing.org