Adverse Childhood Experiences That Can Affect Your Brain & What To Do About Them
Did you know that an adverse childhood experience (ACE) can have a serious impact on your brain? ACE are stressful or traumatic events that occur during childhood that can lead to negative outcomes in adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 6 in 10 adults in the United States has experienced at least one ACE. So what happens when you experience an ACE during childhood? This blog post will explore that question and provide some helpful tips on how to manage their effects on adulthood.
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What are Adverse Childhood Experiences
Adverse childhood experiences are negative experiences a person goes through prior to their 18th birthday. They are stressful or traumatic events that occur during childhood and can include things like physical or emotional abuse, family members with mental illness, or members who abused drugs. The groundbreaking study Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study has focused on seven negative childhood experiences (psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, violence against the mother, and living with either a substance abuser, a mentally ill or suicidal person, or someone who at any point served time in prison) and how these experiences later impact adults’ health.
How do negative experiences impact a person? How do they change the way the brain works? How do these experiences lead to depression, anger, or anxiety? How do they lead to other negative health outcomes?
Not every adult who had adverse childhood experiences grew to have negative health outcomes in adulthood, but the risk did increase if any of the negative childhood circumstances were experienced.
Negative health outcomes that were measured included: alcoholism, drug abuse, smoking, depression, suicide attempt, a large number of sexual partners (50 or more), having a sexually transmitted disease, and severe obesity.
Adverse childhood experiences fall into two main categories: abuse and dysfunctional home.
Abuse is the most recognizable bad experience a person can have. From a young age, many people are educated about these more identifiable actions a person can force upon another. These include:
Verbal abuse
Being cussed at
Being insulted
Being put down
Threats of violence
Physical abuse includes
Being pushed
Being grabbed
Being shoved
Being slapped
Being hit hard enough to leave marks or result in injury
Sexual Abuse includes
Touched inappropriately or fondled
Being asked to touch another person’s body inappropriately
Oral, anal, vaginal intercourse
penetrated or attempted penetration
Growing up in a dysfunctional home may be harder to recognize and identify as a difficult experience. In society, abuse elicits a much stronger and more concerning response from others. This may be because the signs are harder to conceal. It can also have physical findings which makes it easier to recognize. At times, home environments that are not emotionally supportive may lead to silent, painful suffering. This may be due to a lack of awareness of the harmful impact the home environment is having on kids. Dysfunctional home environments include those that experience:
Substance abuse
Alcoholism
Illicit drug use
Mental illness
Household member suffers from a mental illness (depression, anxiety, etc.)
Household members attempt suicide
Violence toward the mother
Mother is threatened to be hit or injured
Mother is hit or injured
Criminal behavior
Household member goes to prison
Household member returns from prison
Does everyone have a negative childhood experience
According to The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, based on responses from 9,500 individuals, more than half reported having at least one adverse experience and a quarter reported having at least two. Most researchers believe that people underreport their exposure to adverse experiences. The most common adverse event was substance abuse in the home. The least common response was having a household member being incarcerated.
What are the risk of ACE
The more adverse experiences a person has during childhood, the greater the chance they will become a smoker, develop severe obesity, be physically inactive, have a depressed mood, attempt suicide, use drugs, abuse alcohol, and have more than 50-lifetime sexual partners.
What is concerning is that the above list of behaviors places a person at great risk of developing potentially fatal medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or stroke.
What are the consequences of ACE
It is important to take into consideration that this landmark study focused on easily identifiable and measurable outcomes. Focusing on the big problems is imperative. This cannot be done without recognizing the suffering a person is going through. Behind these major illnesses are people whose brains and thoughts have been changed due to their childhood maltreatment. Before moving into discussing how ACEs can change a person's heart, and soul, let's begin with how it changes a person’s brain.
Parts of the brain affected by childhood stress
Childhood stress changes the developing brain. It can lead to problems with the growth of certain areas of the brain and the production of some chemicals in the brain. What is most devastating about these changes is the effect they have on adults' way of thinking, how they feel and even their relationships.
Memory (Hippocampus)
Adverse events in a child’s life can affect a part of the brain that is important for memory. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that controls the ability to learn and recall facts and figures. It is the part of the brain that gives one the ability to learn the answers to questions, like what is your name, what is the capital of Georgia, what is the fastest route to the supermarket.
Chronic stress leads to a reduction in the production of the hormone brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This hormone, found in the brain, stimulates nerve growth. This hormone prevents some neurons from initiating the natural cell death process and stimulates the growth of other neurons.
The hippocampus is also very sensitive to a stress hormone known as glucocorticoid. Medical evidence suggests that chronic stress impacts the hippocampus in two ways. The difference between the two effects on the hippocampus may be difficult to understand, but both can be detrimental. For a moment, let’s imagine a completely developed and healthy hippocampus as a ten-foot step ladder with ten individual steps. First, glucocorticoid leads to a lack of development of this important part of the brain. So, instead of a ten-foot ladder, now we only have a seven or eight-foot ladder. Second, glucocorticoid can lead to a loss of neurons in the hippocampus. A neuron is a type of nerve cell found in the brain and nervous system. Our ten-foot ladder, which should have ten steps, only has six steps.
Emotions and Impulse control (Amygdala)
Adverse events in a child’s life can affect a part of the brain that is important in controlling sexual behaviors and anger. The amygdala is important for filtering emotions and memories related to fear. Under acute or chronic stress, the amygdala has increased activity. Increased activity of the amygdala leads to the person is ready, both physically and emotionally, for a fight or flight response to stimuli. Therefore, when faced with danger, the amygdala also aids the body in the important task of protecting itself. However, childhood stress leads to changes to the amygdala and its activation, leading to decreased ability to inhibit behaviors such as sexual behaviors and aggression.
Substance use
As stated earlier, adverse events in a child's life can affect important chemicals in the brain; these chemicals are known as hormones. To important hormones involved in substance use are norepinephrine and dopamine. These two important hormones can affect the response a person gets from drug and alcohol use.
When a person is under stress, the part of the brain that releases norepinephrine has an increased rate of firing; meaning, it produces more norepinephrine. Drugs, such as heroin and alcohol, can decrease this increased release, which can lead to a relaxing feeling from its users.
Dopamine is a chemical in the reward pathway. The reward pathways is important in regulating a person’s motivation. It can lead to a person craving something in anticipation of a reward. Stress can make a person more vulnerable to addiction by altering the reward pathway. Smoking for instant causes an increase in the release of dopamine, resulting in an increase in the sense of pleasure.
Human connection
Adverse events in a child's life can also affect another important chemical released in the brain known as oxytocin, not to be confused with OxyContin, which is a highly addictive, synthetic opioid used to treat severe and chronic pain. This naturally occurring hormone, oxytocin, is also known as the love hormone. Oxytocin is important in forming bonds in relationships. Childhood stress changes how oxytocin is released. When its release is altered, research shows it leads to early intercourse, promiscuity, and sexual dissatisfaction. It can also lead to a disruption of long-term attachments.
Mental Health
Adverse events in a child's life can also cause long-term changes in how the brain produces and uses another hormone known as serotonin. Altered levels of serotonin are known to lead to depression and anxiety.
As we can see, traumatic and stressful events experienced during childhood have a profound effect on the still-developing brain. It changes how one thinks, feels, and interacts with others.
How do childhood adverse events affect adult brains
The formation of memories is increased when a negative emotion is associated with it. These are emotional memories.
When negative events occur around a child, the body will inherently increase its attention toward that stressful negative event. Due to the increased attention, the event is preferenced for becoming a long-term memory. Stress does this by triggering the release of another stress hormone (cortisol) which leads to activation of the amygdala, the emotional control center discussed earlier. Cortisol also increases the formation of negative memories by impacting the hippocampus. These two parts (amygdala and hippocampus) of the brain lead to the formation of negative long-term emotional memories due to stress.
What to do if you have been impacted by ACEs
The first step is recognizing you have been impacted by an ACE. As stated earlier, sometimes this can be difficult to identify, if not being outright denied.
The healing process can be difficult, but it is possible. You may have identified negative events from your past but are uncertain about their impact on you today. It can be challenging to untangle the past and its effect on your present emotions and experiences. The pain currently felt may cause you to be angry at those who have harmed you.
These past adverse childhood events can affect many parts of your adult life. You may feel like you are constantly on guard and fear for your safety. You may struggle with trusting others, especially those with whom you have close relationships. It is common to have difficulty regulating emotions, which can lead to explosive reactions or emotional isolation. You may turn to drugs, alcohol, or food as a way to cope with the pain.
As you explore your past, it is paramount to be compassionate to yourself. It is important to not beat yourself up or your family members for their past actions. It is also helpful to think about and consider the methods you have used to cope.
How do you heal from ACEs
There are two main treatment approaches for targeting the changes a person has undergone due to their adverse childhood events.
Antidepressant Treatment
One important treatment is the use of antidepressants. Antidepressants are known to cause an increase in the formation of the hormone brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and increase the brain's supply of serotonin by allowing the neurons to reuse the initially released stores. This is why antidepressant medications are often prescribed to people who have been impacted by adverse childhood experiences. BDNF increases the size of the hippocampus which can help it recover from the loss of growth and development due to chronic stress. This is helpful in increasing memory retention. BDNF also affects the development and function of neurons that produce and release serotonin. BDNF also affects the prefrontal cortex which is important for personality and emotional control. This has been shown to help decrease the behavioral symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Talk Therapy Treatment
One of the most researched and effective types of talk therapies is cognitive-behavioral therapy, also known as CBT. It focuses on the principle that your thoughts affect your mood.
Talk therapy helps you get to a point where you can talk about your experiences, thoughts, and feelings. This approach can help you understand how adverse childhood events impact your daily life. It can also help lessen any associated pain. Through therapy, you can begin to recognize the exhibited negative behaviors in yourself and begin to address them.
Therapy focuses on, first, helping you identify topics and situations you find yourself avoiding. Avoidance leads to thoughts and behaviors that reinforce depression and anxiety by pulling you away from pleasurable activities.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy also focuses on helping you to develop healthy coping skills. This can help you deal with difficult situations and events in a more positive and productive way. It is important to have these skills so you do not rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Just as antidepressants can cause a rise in BDNF, so can psychotherapy; although, antidepressants can cause a rise in BDNF faster than psychotherapy. It can take months to get a rise in BDNF with psychotherapy alone. Whereas antidepressants cause a significant rise in BDNF within a couple of weeks.
Both antidepressants and talk therapy have been shown to be helpful to someone whose childhood adverse experiences have led them to maintain negative thoughts which lead to depression and anxiety.
Conclusion
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have a serious impact on the developing child's brain. Stressful or traumatic events that occur during childhood can cause long-term changes in how the brain produces and uses serotonin and BDNF, which can lead to depression and anxiety. The health of your brain affects your thoughts and moods.
You can recover from your past; there are treatment options. Antidepressant medications and talk therapy can help. Antidepressants can help you recover faster. Talk therapy can help you develop healthy coping skills so that the changes you make remain.
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