Triumph Over Trauma
Overcoming Childhood ACE Scores
Hey Readers,
This week, in honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, I want to take some time to talk about ACE scores and how to overcome childhood trauma with resilience.
Please note: this post will discuss adverse childhood experiences and may be distressing and triggering for those who have experienced trauma related to this subject. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, please seek help from a trusted authority or support organization. I have left links to such organizations at the end of this post.
What is an ACE Score?
I first became aware of ACE scores during my over decade long tenure working with young children and families facing a myriad of stressors, including all forms of child abuse, homelessness, parental incarceration, mental illness, and drug addiction, to name a few. As a survivor of childhood traumas myself, I was instantly drawn to learning more about what an Ace score is, how it impacts our development, and how we can rise above it.
An ”ACE” score stands for “Adverse Childhood Experiences.” Such experiences can include things like physical and emotional abuse, neglect, caregiver mental illness, and household violence. The more ACEs a child experiences, the more likely he or she will be impacted. After affects can include an increase in illness, disease, substance abuse, or other negative impacts throughout life. This is because experiencing high numbers of ACEs can cause toxic stress.
What is Toxic Stress?
Toxic stress is an excessive activation of the stress response system, leading to long-lasting wear and tear on the body and brain. In fact, toxic stress is the equivalent of revving a car engine for days or weeks at a time. This wouldn’t have a positive impact on your car engine. Nor does it have a positive impact on you.
There is a powerful correlation between the number of ACEs and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, substance abuse, smoking, and even untimely death, not to mention struggles with anxiety and complex PTSD. This is because the body’s stress response does not distinguish between overt threats from inside or outside the home. Instead, it may recognize everything as a threat, keeping an individual on constant high alert.[1]
Overcoming High ACE Scores—A Path to Resilience
First, it is important to note that the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, which coined the term “toxic stress” in the early 2000s, has expanded its definition of adversity beyond the categories that were the initial focus of the original ACE study. Now, it includes things such as community and systemic causes, such as violence in a child’s community, experiences with racism and chronic poverty. This is because the body’s stress response cannot distinguish between threats inside or outside the home. It knows there is a threat, putting it on high alert.
Second, and most important, is knowing that experiencing adverse experiences such as those that contribute to a high ACE score does not make a person irreparably damaged. This is good news. You can recover from traumatic experiences with the proper tools, help, and support.
What is Resilience?
When I think of resilience, I think of my early years as a toddler teacher. I watched countless children learn how to walk. Up and down, they’d go, falling down repeatedly, each time they attempted to step out on their own. In fact, New York University completed a study directed by Dr. Karen Adolph that showed walking toddlers travel around 2,360 steps each hour and fall down an average of 17 times during that same period. To put this into context, this is equivalent to if you were trying to achieve something 17 times per day and experienced a setback every 3.5 minutes! That would certainly be frustrating. Yet still, toddlers do not give up, they get up, again and again. That’s resilience.[2]
Resilience is the ability to bounce back despite your trials. The more you exercise it, the stronger it will grow.
This is especially true for young children whose brains are still forming. This is why since the advent of the ACE score, other tests have come out measuring the positive impacts a child experiences, which can decrease the impact on an ACE score. You can find more about the ACE score test and factors that help children develop resilience here:
https://showhope.org/content/uploads/2021/03/ACEs-Questionnaire.pdf
How To Heal After Childhood Trauma
While therapy is an effective and strongly encouraged way to heal from childhood trauma, there are also numerous other ways you can get started with healing.
1. Journaling: Writing your thoughts and feelings can help you gain clarity and insight into your experiences and help release pent-up emotions. Don’t limit yourself to diary entries. Write a letter you’ll never send, poetry, song lyrics, short stories, or just allow yourself to write anything, even if it makes little sense. The act of writing itself will help you make sense of your past.
2. Self-Compassion: Be kind to yourself. Handle yourself with the same care and compassion you would a friend. Talk to your inner child, reminding them that the danger is over. They are safe now.
3. Self-Care: Take care of your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs to help you feel balanced. For example, getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and engaging in activities that bring you joy. Seek doctors that understand the impacts of trauma on health and speak up for resources and help you need.
4. Social Support: Spend time with people that help you feel supported and validated. Connection is key to healing because having a support network reminds you that you are not alone.
5. Mindfulness Meditation: Learn more about mindfulness mediation. This can be as simple as taking time to sit quietly, going for long walks, listening to calming music, or any other activity that helps you feel at peace.
6. Positive Affirmations and other techniques: Remind yourself how strong you are. Memorize a quote or spiritual verse you find comforting and repeat it to yourself in these moments. Counting out of order during a panic attack helps too, because it refocuses your brain on another task.
7. Exercise: Physical activity, even just a simple walk, can do wonders in releasing tension and improving your mood.
8. Get Outside: Nature is healing because it helps reset your nervous system to a place of peace. This is especially important today when most of us are constantly plugged in. Get outside, feel the sunshine, breath in fresh air. It can do wonders for your health and mindset.
9. Creative Expression: Express yourself with art, music, writing, or other forms of creative expression. Think you’re not creative? Don’t worry about the product or outcome, enjoy the experience. Something as simple as coloring in a coloring book can help let go of extra stress.
10. It wasn’t your fault. Recognize that you were a child and the things that happened to you were out of your control. Let go of resentment and pain through the power of forgiveness. Remember, forgiveness is for you, not the abuser. It is not excusing the abuser but allowing yourself to let go of the pain associated with it. For more information on this, check out this link: https://psychcentral.com/relationships/how-do-i-forgive-my-abuser#recap
Conclusion
It is never too late to heal. You can reverse the impacts of abuse with the proper resources, social support, and your own dedication to resilience.
Remember, “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”—Mary Ann Radmacher.
Till Next Time,
Sarah
AKA A Busy Lady
P.S. Because of the sensitive nature of this post, I’ve turned off comments. If you are touched by this post, you may privately message me or please restack to share these resources with others.
Also, if you, or someone you know is being abused, here are some resources you can contact:
https://www.childhelphotline.org/
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
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