Our Body and Brain

 The CDC’s 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study measured 10 types of childhood trauma, including abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction, such as substance abuse, incarceration, mental illness, domestic violence, and parental separation. The study found that 66% of participants had experienced at least one type of adversity, and similar results have been found in other surveys across 22 states and various organizations.

The findings show that ACEs often lead to chronic health issues like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, and violence. People with higher ACE scores also face more broken marriages, drug prescriptions, depression, obesity, and teen pregnancies. ACEs tend to occur together, and the more ACEs a person has, the higher the risk of lifelong health and social problems. For example, those with four or more ACEs are at significantly higher risk for smoking, alcoholism, suicide attempts, and drug use.

Toxic stress, caused by traumatic experiences like abuse or neglect, can harm a child’s developing brain and lead to lasting emotional and behavioral problems. When children experience ongoing stress, their "survival brain" takes over, shutting down their ability to learn, think, or make decisions, putting them in a constant state of fight, flight, or freeze. This chronic stress response prevents normal brain function and creates memory patterns that trigger heightened reactions to everyday events. If these children are not supported, their behavior can be misinterpreted as defiance or disobedience, when it's actually a response to overwhelming stress. However, the brain is adaptable, and with the right support and interventions, children can heal, build resilience, and return to healthier, more stable states. 

 The HPA system, responsible for managing stress and trauma responses, normally works efficiently, like air traffic control. However, prolonged stress increases the body's wear and tear, called allostatic load, causing continuous release of adrenaline and cortisol. Over time, this can damage the heart, increase blood pressure, raise glucose levels (leading to diabetes), and contribute to conditions like osteoporosis, depression, and autoimmune diseases. Chronic stress can also impair the body’s ability to control inflammation, leading to tissue damage and diseases. For those with childhood trauma, this system is often overactive, resulting in higher inflammation and a smaller prefrontal cortex, which can shorten their lifespan by up to 20 years.  

(Image content thanks to J. Dorado (2014), UCSF Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools)

 Many people believe our DNA is fixed and determines our entire life, but epigenetics shows that our environment, including toxic stress, can turn genes on and off, causing long-term changes in the body and brain. These changes, like the addition or removal of chemical groups (methylation), can even be passed down to future generations. For example, research found that adults with childhood trauma had genes that regulate stress less effectively, making it harder to manage cortisol, the stress hormone. Epigenetic changes can also occur in infants exposed to prenatal maternal depression, impacting gene expression related to stress regulation. 

 (Image content thanks to the Nation Institute of Health)