Have you suffered from childhood trauma and wondered why life seems so hard, especially compared to others in your life? Do you wonder why you have such a tendency to overdo it with alcohol, drugs, or compulsive or addictive behavior? The answer lies in your ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences Score), but before you rush to find out what it is you should learn more about it and how it can affect all kinds of health conditions up and down the line.
Who Suffers From Adverse Childhood Experiences?
Most people have at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), but there are also a lot of people who have several ACE components. The ACE Survey was developed by the healthcare conglomerate Kaiser Permanente over 20 years ago, and was developed as a tool to identify customers who were at a higher risk of suffering life long chronic health problems of all kinds (both physical and mental). It was given to about 17,000 people and found that those who had over a certain number of ACE elements were at more risk of developing chronic health problems and suffering from early death.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Addiction Issues
Some people who have over a certain number of ACE elements are more at risk of developing addictions as one of their health problems, and I see quite a few of these individuals in my private practice. Some of them develop chemical dependency issues, some develop behavioral addictions and compulsions, and some have both. In most cases, these folks have an ACE score that is 3 or higher, although depending on how people answer the questions their total score could be higher or lower than this. Invariably, there are mental health consequences to having an elevated ACE score, but depending on what other factors are present (for example, loving and caring mentors, teachers, or therapists) the person may have a harder time in adulthood or not.
How Adverse Childhood Experiences Affect the Brain
When a child suffers a traumatic event, such as one of the ones I’m talking about here, it affects the brain in ways that keep the brain from developing as well as it would otherwise. The brain is the largest part of our nervous system, and is a control center for the body. When the brain is negatively affected at such a young age, it keeps us from growing and developing in an overall sense as well as we would if the trauma hadn’t happened- we remain stunted in some ways in the growing-up process. This is how adverse childhood experiences lead to health problems of all kinds further down the road. If you don’t get off to a good start in childhood, it can lead to this kind of thing. There is even reason to believe that childhood trauma can lead to lifelong experiences of trauma because of something called the trauma bond, which is an unhealthy attachment to people who remind us of abusive caregivers when we were growing up.
How to Cope with Adverse Childhood Experiences
One thing that helps is if someone who has more than a few ACE indicators to be in therapy, goes to the doctor regularly, and adopts a healthy lifestyle at some point. These are all mitigating factors against the deck that gets stacked against those who have had a number of adverse childhood experiences. So help-seeking and positive self-care habits are both ways to fight against ACE’s. Another way of working against ACE’s is developing positive, supportive relationships with others across the lifespan. The trauma bond keeps people enslaved to their abusers, but to the extent we have others in our lives who affirm the good in us and help us get by (as well as giving us opportunities to give back to them), new neural pathways can be developed in the brain that help people recover from ACE’s of all types.
My ‘Ace in the Hole’ Against ACE’s
I’ve been working for over 10 years helping people with ACE scores of all ranges, including men who have compulsive or addictive sexual behavior. For those who have a significant number of adverse childhood experiences, I often use trauma therapy to help them overcome the effects of their childhoods and to be more functional adults. This includes helping them find more adaptive ways to get their needs met than what compulsive behavior offers. I help these individuals break out of the ‘squirrel cage’ they are stuck in to live in the world of more choice and healthy alternatives. If you struggle with ACE’s and want to find out if I can help you, I encourage you to give me a call, or fill out the form below and I can talk to you more about how working with me might be of help to you. Especially in these times we live in that are so stressful and rife with trauma for both young and old, the benefit you can get from effective trauma therapy is a help to you and future generations as well!
About the author: Scott Kampschaefer, LCSW is a private practice therapist in Frederick, Maryland. He has an extensive background in working with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder at a clinic for older adults with these disorders in Austin, Texas. He now works with adults and adolescents 14 and up in private practice. His e-book is entitled Life’s Lessons from the Young and the Old and is available for purchase on Amazon.
Visit our page on sex addiction therapy to learn more about how Scott can help you with compulsive or addictive sexual behavior.
Take the ACE Survey yourself (Note: your individual results should not be interpreted without the help of a licensed professional!)