From “Walk with Me: A Journey through the Landscape of Trauma” by Ellen Corcella
The ACES test is a tally of the harmful childhood events that predict the likelihood of and identify the possible source of adult medical conditions. Pioneers in this field noted correlations between children who had suffered physical and sexual abuse or had a parent under the influence of drugs and alcohol or were neglected in childhood with the occurrence of chronic, debilitating, and life-limiting health conditions when these same individuals became adults. According to medical science, the more trauma and abuse you suffer as a child, referred to as “complex trauma,” the more likely you are to suffer chronic illness like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, and even cancer. People with ACEs scores above four are far more likely to suffer depression or experience suicidal thoughts than individuals with lower scores.
I could not wrap my brain around this concept. How could an experience like being yelled at repeatedly as a child lead to physical and psychological harm as an adult? When children live in a constant state of fear, they live in “fight or flight” mode. Neurologically, this means their autonomous nervous system increases their blood pressure, causing their heart to race, pushing adrenaline through their bodies. External stress causes constant internal stress on the body, and eventually the body wears out from the constant alert signals.