THE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES TEST

The ACE interview and diagnosis helps us validate the importance of  Adverse Childhood Experiences.

But before you take the test, let me show you how widespread, as well as hidden, this topic is to the general population by quoting the director of the A.C.E. study himself:

In 1985 I first became interested in developmental life experiences in early childhood really by accident. In the major obesity program we were running, a young woman came into the program, she was twenty-eight years old, and wished 408 pounds, and asked us if we could help her with her problem. And in fifty-one weeks we took her from 408 to 132, and we thought, well my god, we’ve got this problem licked. This is going to be a world-famous department here! She maintained her weight at 132 for several weeks and then from week three regained 37 pounds in three weeks, which I had not conceived as physiologically possible.That was the triggered by being sexually propositioned at work by a much older man, as she described him. And in short order, she was back over 400 pounds faster than she had lost the weight. I remember asking her why the extreme response, and after claiming not to have any understanding of why the extreme response, ultimately she told me of a lengthy incest history with her grandfather, from age 10 to age 21. Ultimately it turned out that 55% of the people in our obesity program acknowledged a history of sexual abuse

Negative changes in our physical selves often imply a general difficulty to make sense of the world. Engaging in high-risk behaviour, such as abusive consumptions of drugs or food, unprotected sex, risky sports, or violent relationships, are a normal reflection of the internal dysfunction we are already experiencing. As the graphics below show, correlations can be made with a whole host of behaviours and physical and mental health issues, including diabetes, cancer, bone fractures and sexually transmitted diseases.

The reason for this has to do with the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, the brain's and body's stress response system that governs our fight-or-flight response... Children are especially sensitive to this repeated stress activation, because their brains and bodies are just developing. High doses of adversity not only affect brain structure and function, they affect the developing immune system, developing hormonal systems, and even the way our DNA is read and transcribed (Nadine Burke)

So now that you understand how body and mind are completely intertwined:

TAKE THE TEST

Wishing you Well,

Your Shrink in Bansko