This article draws parallels between childhood trauma and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered by soldiers damaged in war. Until childhood trauma is better understood by the general public and lawmakers willing to adopt policies and programs necessary to interrupt generational child abuse and heal the children affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), not much will change.
Badly broken children suffering from the mental health issues common to ACES trauma (Adverse Childhood Experiences) will continue to disrupt classrooms and experience exponentially more teen and preteen pregnancy, STDs Sexually Transmitted Diseases), and the dysfunctional, often violent behavior typical in this population.
Statistics suggest broken schools, high crime, and full prisons born of a growing population of at-risk children are becoming America’s legacy today.
Back to veteran trauma: It’s easy to see how being torn apart by bullets or being next to a friend blown up has an immediate biological impact on the brain.
It is not as apparent how growing up in a toxic home destroys a child’s brain the same way bullets, bombs, and IEDS damage a damaged war veteran.
The word “Trauma” burst into our conversations for soldiers injured in the Mideast wars that began 30 years ago. Anxiety, depression, self-harm, and violence are frighteningly common among veterans suffering from PTSD. Families, friends, and communities suffer as veterans commit high rates of suicide and crimes and have flare-ups of terrible behavior, making life miserable for countless people.
Today, the word trauma is used a lot, often to describe lesser kinds of traumatic events. Arguably, the current use of the word is diminishing its power to convey the lifelong damage child abuse causes.
As a longtime CASA Guardian ad Litem, I argue that all the children in my caseload suffered from “extended exposure to violence and deprivation” (*A World Health Organization definition of torture).
This kind of trauma, while it can be managed, never goes away and is not likely to be well managed by a significant percentage of the people who suffer from it because we are a punishment-oriented society and prefer expulsion and incarceration to healing policies and programs.
To this day, law enforcement, courts, friends, and families stretch their minds to understand and deal with the rash of suicides and terrible behaviors that have occurred and continue in this population.
Childhood trauma delivers the same disruptive brain change that happens to a soldier experiencing the violence of war. Biologically, the amygdala is profoundly impacted by an extreme or life-threatening event. The amygdala is the peanut-sized reptilian part of the brain that intercepts threats to life. The amygdala reacts immediately to the danger, superseding involvement by the logical, thinking part of the brain (hippocampus). This explains the dysfunctional, often violent behavior of people (young and old) who suffer severe trauma.
While there is not much transparency in CPS to explain the outcomes of children passing through our Child Protection Systems, we do know that for decades, about 80% of youth aging out of foster homes have gone on to lead dysfunctional lives. Former MN Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz has stated that “90% of the youth in juvenile justice have come through Child Protective Services”). If you agree that a better understanding of childhood trauma would help policymakers find and support more child-friendly policies, please share this article with your State Representative (directions below).
For those of you who want to know more, check out this groundbreaking book, The Body Keeps the Score, or watch this short, powerful three-minute ACEs video.
To take the ACE short test, click the Read More button below.
WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, your State Representative (find them here) change will come. When enough of us become informed and speak up for abused and neglected children, we will improve their lives and our communities! Please support KARA’s work with a small monthly donation:
DEFINITIONS:
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, trauma is a mental condition caused by severe shock, stress, or fear, especially when the harmful effects last for a long time1. It can also refer to physical damage caused by a blow.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE: Trauma in childhood is a grave psychosocial, medical, and public policy problem that has serious consequences for its victims and society. Chronic interpersonal violence in children is common worldwide. Developmental traumatology, the systemic investigation of the psychiatric and psychobiological effects of chronic overwhelming stress on the developing child, provides a framework and principles when empirically examining the neurobiological impact of pediatric trauma.
The ACE score is meant as a guideline: If you experienced other types of toxic stress over months or years, then those would likely increase your risk of health consequences, depending on the positive childhood experiences you had (see below).
Prior to your 18th birthday:
- Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? or Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? or Ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever… Touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? or Attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Did you often or very often feel that … No one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? or Your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Did you often or very often feel that … You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? or Your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Were your parents ever separated or divorced?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Was your mother or stepmother:
Often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? or Sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? or Ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __ - Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide? No___If Yes, enter 1 __
- Did a household member go to prison?
No___If Yes, enter 1 __
For more information about ACEs: What ACEs/PCEs do you have? – ACEs Too High
