After watching Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’ TED Talk entitled How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across A Lifetime my mind was opened in a way that I could only later explain to my friends as a moment of pure illumination.
The talk centers on the impact of childhood trauma on the health outcomes of adults later in life. Traumatic experiences can include physical abuse, witnessing gun violence, having a parent with a mental illness or being in an environment that evokes fear and ignites a child’s stress response, leading to dysregulation and overproduction of stress hormones, including cortisol.
Another leading child trauma expert Dr. Betsy de Thierry in her book The Simple Guide to Child Trauma cements this when she says “children become traumatized in any environment where fear is a theme. They soak in the atmosphere where the adults are angry, aggressive, uncaring or emotionally distant.” Harris, through her relentless work at her Bayview Clinic in San Francisco, saw first hand the effects of adversity on the health outcomes of children in the Bayview community. Her patients were presenting with behavioral problems such as ADHD, chronic asthma and stunts in growth development. For Harris, it was clear that these symptoms were just the surface of a much larger problem. So, she invested her time and energy into finding out why.
As part of her research, Harris came across the ACE Study conducted by Dr. Vincent Felitti and Dr. Robert Anda and first published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine in 1998. The study, which pooled data from 17,421 participants drew a direct correlation between childhood adversity and bad health outcomes. The study gave participants an ACE score ranging from 0-10. ACEs included: having a parent with a mental illness, living with a parent who abused drugs or having a parent who was emotionally or physically abusive.
The results of the study were quite revealing. For example, a person with an ACE score of four or more was twice as likely to develop heart disease and cancer, compared to a person with zero ACEs. Also, Harris notes in her book the Deepest Well that early adversity can lead to a dysregulation of the stress response system. What that means is a child’s stress response, primarily fight, flight or freeze is activated too often. This leads to a build-up of stress hormones, including cortisol which can cause a reduction in concentration, impair growth and damage the immune system, meaning children are more prone to things like colds and infections, as well as a host of autoimmune disorders.
Harris advocates for the inclusion of ACE screening in common medical practice. In theory, when a child or adult presents with a list of symptoms such as poor concentration, asthma or extreme fatigue, doctors would screen them for ACEs. Harris notes that if caught early, the effects of adversity can be greatly reduced through six main treatments: nutrition, mental health, positive relationships, exercise, mindfulness, and sleep. If all of these six areas are worked upon, Harris found that significant reduction and in some cases total healing of the symptoms occurred.
Understanding trauma and childhood adversity is often a taboo subject. I wonder how many people are unaware that their early adversity in life, may be having a direct impact on their health today. Dr. Harris made me stop and think about adversity and it was a lightbulb moment. It makes sense that in early development when our genetic makeup is literally being shaped, that any trauma upon that development could have adverse effects.
However, I find it inspiring that Harris notes that if a child has a healthy buffer, in the form of a supportive adult caregiver, during trauma, the child can overcome it and go on to lead a healthy life. I also find it encouraging that there are treatment options out there, most notably the six I’ve mentioned above. Adversity doesn’t have to be all-consuming, and with the right tools, it’s entirely possible to begin healing.
References:
Harris, Nadine B. The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity. London: Macmillan, 2018.
Thierry, Betsy de. The Simple Guide to Child Trauma. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017.
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