Finishing that sentence is more complex than you’d think. After all, adverse childhood experiences can have a lasting impact on you, of course, but their reach is far more multi-faceted. Simply put, the impact of childhood trauma can affect all aspects of your life, and its ripple effects extend even further into the lives of those around you.
What are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?
So what exactly are adverse childhood experiences (also known as ACEs)? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines adverse childhood experiences as any potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood (ages 0 to 17). At the same time, ACEs can include certain aspects of a child’s environment that negatively interfere with their sense of safety, stability, and bonding.
ACEs are, in fact, common. About 64% of adults in the United States reported that they experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18, according to a CDC study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Of all the types, there are 10 adverse childhood experiences that tend to make the most impact on kids (and still make an impact when they grow up to be adults). These include:
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Physical neglect
- Emotional neglect
- Living with someone who has a mental illness
- An incarcerated relative
- Witnessing your mother treated violently
- Substance use in the home
- Divorce
These adverse childhood experiences can have a lasting impact on your life due to the trauma they cause. Trauma, according to the American Psychological Association, is the emotional response to a terrible event (such as ACEs in this case). Trauma can affect everyone differently, but for some, it can linger long-term in the form of flashbacks, emotional turmoil, difficult relationships, and more. But when trauma occurs in your childhood, especially because you’re still very much developing in these formative years, the impact of adverse childhood experiences can continue on for decades. As a result, childhood trauma may end up hurting you mentally, physically, and in your relationships with others.
Adverse Childhood Experiences Can Have a Lasting Impact On…Your Mental Health
Emotional Regulation Issues
When you experience different types of trauma in ACEs, it can negatively impact the way you deal with your emotions. When you’re healthy, you’re able to manage emotions in a way that is both positive and productive, which is called emotional regulation. However, because of childhood trauma, your ability to manage your emotions can become dysregulated. That means when you face challenging situations, stress, or negative feelings, you’re more likely to become overwhelmed, more angry, and may not know how to respond properly. You also may become prone to experiencing less joy than others.
Mental Health Disorders
Because adverse childhood experiences can have a lasting impact on your ability to manage your emotions, it leaves you vulnerable to struggling with mental health disorders. Being in a continued state of fight-or-flight response due to unresolved childhood trauma can also lead to mental health issues. Some mental health disorders associated with adverse childhood experiences include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Personality disorders
Adverse Childhood Experiences Can Have a Lasting Impact On…Your Physical Health
Chronic Health Problems
The impact of childhood trauma can lead to major problems in your physical health. According to the Cleveland Clinic, childhood trauma increases your chances of developing health conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and stroke. Researchers have even found that the effects of childhood trauma can lead to elevated proteins in the brain, causing damaging brain inflammation. And prolonged stress hormones associated with past trauma can lead to inflammation in the body as well, which also causes lasting health challenges.
Substance Abuse and Addiction
As childhood trauma’s effects unfold on your life, the impact compounds upon itself. Because you struggle with emotional dysregulation and mental health issues, you have a harder time coping with stress and negative feelings. And you’re not in the best mental space to make good decisions. This leads to seeking out unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs, alcohol, porn, or sex to self-medicate. Yet over time, your self-medication develops into a full-blown addiction, further compounding your physical health issues.
Adverse Childhood Experiences Can Have a Lasting Impact On…Your Relationships
Unhealthy Attachments
The way you learn to relate to others, as well as our ability to form healthy attachments, is formed in your childhood. When ACEs enter the picture however, the emotional and behavioral patterns you learn in relationships are often unhealthy, leading to unhealthy attachment styles in adulthood. These styles can include anxious-avoidant attachment, which causes anxiety, overprotective behaviors, codependency, fear of abandonment, and more in relationships. At the same time, the unhealthy attachment styles you’ve developed may drive you into social isolation as you distrust others.
Is the Impact of Childhood Trauma Ruining Your Life? We Can Help
Adverse childhood experiences can have a lasting impact on your life if you let them. But it doesn’t have to be this way with the right professional support. At Integrative Life Center in Nashville, TN, we can help you process and ultimately recover from the childhood trauma that has damaged your life. With our comprehensive trauma treatment program, you can find the lasting healing you deserve. Call us today to get started.
