The Ace Study Revealed

The ACE Study is perhaps the largest scientific research study of its kind, analyzing the relationship between multiple categories of childhood trauma and health and behavioral outcomes later in life. Beginning in 1992, over 17,000 people participated in this comprehensive, ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente.



An Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) is defined as "physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse" before the age of 18. It also includes growing up experiencing;

-an alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household

-an incarcerated household member

-living with someone who is chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal

-mother is treated violently

-having one or no parents

-emotional or physical neglect

The ACE definition so closely matches the one for Adult Children Of Alcoholics, they are practically synonymous.

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The majority of people have at least one ACE.

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All of these lead to trauma and whether the abuse was physical in nature or not, actually cause physical changes to a developing child's brain including abnormal development of the cortex. The amygdala of insecurely attached children are hyperactive and larger than those of securely attached children. They have a greater surging of cortisol and adrenaline (fight or flight response). Plus their prefrontal cortexes are smaller and so they are less able to control their fear and anger.

Unresolved ACEs can effect the health and behavior of the victim for decades and and even shorten their lifespan up to twenty years. The more types of ACEs you were exposed to, the more likely you will have resulting issues such as depression, addiction, heart disease, obesity and cancer later in life. People who have experienced 4 or more categories of ACEs are 4 to 12 times more likely to experience depression, drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide attempts than a person who has not experienced any. You can calculate your personal ACE score here: http://acestudy.org/

An introduction to The ACE Study:


Source: http://youtu.be/yT4tzwH_K8M


Essayist, author, and host of the Freedomain Radio Podcasts, Stefan Molyneux, believes that therapy with a good counselor can help reverse the effects of ACEs and lead to a healthier, happier life. In Part 1, Molyneux explains the correlation between childhood trauma and it's negative effects later in life:


Source: http://youtu.be/gbiq2-ukfhM


Part 2 features an interview with one of the leaders of the ACE study, Vincent J. Felitti, MD:


Source: http://youtu.be/NRaNwIdrKuc


This eye opening information points to the cause of many common problems and dysfunctions. The more this material is discovered and acknowledged, the better chance for understanding the cause, effectively treating it and stopping the cycle.

The ACE Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente. Led by Co-principal Investigators Robert F. Anda, MD, MS, and Vincent J. Felitti, MD.

Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children

Female ACOAs At Higher Risk

According to a recent US News & World Report, having an alcoholic parent, especially a mother, is more difficult for girls. A Yale University study found female adult children of alcoholic mothers at higher risk of developing psychiatric illness later in life than their male counterparts.

Study author Peter T. Morgan, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale, said, "The key, new finding of this work is that the effect parental alcoholism has on children is different depending on the gender of the alcoholic parent and the gender of the child."

While all parental dysfunction has an effect on children of either gender, when it is specifically between a mother and daughter it seems to be even more damaging.

Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children

Relapse?

http://adultchildren.org/lit/Comline_sample.pdf

In ACA, we have stories of relapse and the importance of getting back to the program if relapse occurs. An ACA relapse always features a reenact-ment of our role while growing up in a dysfunctional family. We recreate the same fear, self-hate, and abandonment of our childhood. A relapse can take many forms, but all ACA relapses have this central feature.

An ACA relapse can bring a return of self-harming behavior. The behavior can include emotional eating, drug use, compulsive sexual relationships, or other harmful behaviors. We can become an aggressive authority figure and emotional persecutor while in relapse. The critical inner parent can return. We may also find ourselves in a controlling relationship without baseline honesty or trust. We can feel used.

Relapse in this program can be subtle, gradual, and insidious. While there are different forms of relapse, the setback has the common characteristics of willful control, manipulation, dishonesty, and turning away from a Higher Power. Sometimes a single act can be considered a relapse. At other times we consider ourselves in relapse when we have engaged in an unhealthy behavior for many months with no honest effort to change our behavior.

Some warning signs of relapse can include: not talking about things that upset us; keeping secrets; failing to get a sponsor; attending meetings but failing to work the ACA Twelve Steps; working only the Steps of another Twelve Step program while attending ACA; withdrawing from the fellowship and isolating; replacing our old addiction with another equally destructive one; skipping meetings or quitting meetings; seducing a newcomer; substituting another Twelve Step group or enlightenment group for this one; or pronouncing ourselves cured.

By pronouncing ourselves cured, we wrongly conclude that ACA is a limited program that addresses only certain areas of our lives such as abuse. In reality, ACA is a way of life that can improve every aspect of our lives. We can rely upon ACA to fulfill us emotionally and spiritually if we work the program. By facing our pain and fears, we experience a spiritual awakening that transforms us. We continue to attend meetings year after year so that we can grow spiritually and pass on what was given to us. The reward is emotional sobriety and a personality change that moves us away from being a fear-based person to God-centered person. With our personality change, we claim our true identity.


Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children