This document discusses adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their impact on health. It begins by outlining the intent to understand how ACEs affect health, explore our own pasts, and heal from adverse experiences. It then discusses how ACEs can impact brain development, the immune and nervous systems, and attachment. The rest of the document outlines the ACE study, details 10 categories of childhood adversity, and explores the physical and mental health impacts of high ACE scores. It concludes by offering suggestions for what individuals and parents/teachers can do to address ACEs, including self-care strategies like mindfulness, expressing emotions, and seeking help when needed.

1. Adverse Childhood Experiences
and Its impact on Health
By Dr. Sanjyot Pethe
HELP Talks
Oct 4, 2018

2. Intent of the talk
• Understanding the impact of ACE on health
• Exploring our own past
• Healing from the impact of Adverse
experiences
As children we had no control over what happened to us, As adults we
may be able to do something about it

3. • Development of the brain – HPA Axis
• Immune system
• Effects on nervous system
• Attachment

4. ACE
• ACE study – the story
• 1985- Philosopher and physician Vincent J
Fillitti – working with obesity found a
correlation with childhood adversity
• He found out by accident and then
interviewed 285 patients - the results were
opposed by medical community – advised for
a larger research - Robert Anda – 26000
patients.

5. Adverse Childhood experiences
• 10 categories
• 5 categories personal -Emotional and physical
stressors, sexual abuse, feeling of being unloved
or uncared for, poverty/neglect.
• 5 categories family – loss of parents, mother
being abused, someone suffering from substance
abuse, someone suffering from mental illness and
a family member being sent to prison
• ACE score of 4 and above

6. CTQ
• Goes beyond ACE
• Includes chronic criticism, humiliation,
medical injuries, living amidst neighbourhoods
of voilence
• Goes into more details
• Results are similar. No dimension is superior
to other

8. Impact
• Physical
– Autoimmune diseases
– Heart disease
– Chronic bowel disorders
– Migraines
– Hormonal malfunction
– Cancer
– Lung diseases
– Diebetes
– Asthama
– Chronic fatigue
– Obesity

9. Impact
• Mental/emotional/behavioural
– Depression
– Anxiety
– Beliefs- Something is wrong with self and the situation
– Low self esteem
– Rage/anger
– Emotional imbalance
– Social distancing
– Lack of boundaries
– Inability to recognize one’s own and other’s need
– Suicidal tendencies

10. What can we do about it (for
ourselves)
1. Take the ACE survey
– How old were you?
– Is it possible that you don’t remember?
– How much support did you receive?
2. Take your resilience score
– Available on http://ACEsTooHigh.com
3. Write to heal
4. Draw It

11. What can we do about it (for
ourselves)
5. Mindfulness meditation
6. Moving meditation
7. Working with the body sensations and feelings and
movements
8. Seek professional help
9. Working with the natural environment
10. Eat more leafy greens, vegetables and fruits
11. Connect
12. Work with your intuition

12. What can we do about it (as
parents/teachers)
• Help the child to express all kinds of emotions
• Encourage connection to the body, to nature, to self
• Avoid criticism in public unless very necessary. If you lose it,
apologize
• Manage your own baggage. Heal yourself first
• Seen, safe, soothed and secure
• What does not kill you, makes you stronger is not always true.
• No adversity is also not good
• Look into your child eyes.
• Amplify the good feelings
• Incredible power of a 20sec hug
• Reframe narratives
• Teach mindfulness

13. In conclusion
• Embracing trauma/adverse trauma does not
mean we wallow in them. It means that we
accept and acknowledge so that we can let it
go
• There is a difference between living your
emotions and feeling your emotions.
Liberation comes from feeling your emotions
• Remember that childhood adversity also has
genetic impact. Ignoring it is costly

14. Thank You
Childhood Disrupted – Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Deepest Well – Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
Complex PTSD – Pete Walker