Every day, hundreds of children need the support of someone to help them face their misadventures and thus have a full life. However, early adverse experiences in their first years of life may decrease their ability to grow emotionally. It is because they have a stressful impact that can affect the development of their mind and brain.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) may mark the beginning of a life of misery and often may even mark the fate of future generations. These events go beyond the control that a young person in training has.
Mental Consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences
The main types of ACEs are abuse, neglect (abandonment) and homes with serious problems. While ACEs occur before the age of 18, their effects can last throughout life and even affect the next generation.
Childhood trauma puts our youth and the next generation at risk of developing many of the following conditions and problems:
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Depression
- Heart, lung or liver diseases
- Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
- Partner violence
- Smoking, even from an early age
- Suicide attempts
- Unwanted pregnancy
The higher the number of Adverse Experiences in childhood, the higher the risk of suffering from these problems. This behavior identified during the initial study about ACEs carried out almost 20 years ago and involved more than 17,000 people from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente Health Plan.
Health consequences
You can see how a progression of effects that begins with one or more ACEs. These unwanted experiences have a negative impact on the development of social, emotional and cognitive youth. They also promote the increase in rates of unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drug use, unprotected and promiscuous sex, as well as a sedentary lifestyle and a diet rich in sugar and fat.
The ACE seems to encourage deterioration in two main ways:
First, by inducing a chronic stress response in the brain (and therefore in the body). It decreases the immune response to the disease, which is essential for the development of a variety of mental illnesses.
Second, long-term illness causes behavioral and habits disorders. They combined with the effects of chronic stress induces a series of diseases. It often begins in adolescence or early adulthood.
Final Thoughts
Social-emotional learning is required. Also, the prevention of abuse, neglect, and homes with serious problems are among the most challenging social challenges to address. However, the prevalence and suffering that these problems generate are proof that we must find ways to intervene and free young people from a life marked by childhood difficulties.
If you are planning a child welfare or childhood trauma conference, having an inspiring keynote speaker that has experienced brutal childhood trauma may help your attendees have a new perspective. Derek Clark is a top motivational keynote speaker on trauma informed care and is considered by many conference planners the leading expert. Based on his experiential knowledge, surviving brutal child abuse and foster care for 13 years, he helps others shift their mindset to never ever give up on a child.
You can find out more about Derek Clark and his programs at www.IWillNeverGiveUp.com
