#adverse-childhood-experiences

#adverse-childhood-experiences

It is estimated that nearly 90 percent of suicide attempts among high school students under age 18 and as many as two-thirds of adult suicide attempts are directly attributable to ACEs. Individuals with 6 ACEs are 13-30 times more likely to attempt suicide (depending on age), while those with at least 7 ACEs show up to a 51-fold increase. In other words, if we prevent and treat ACEs, we could prevent the majority of suicides.

The study found that many university students have considered suicide, with 47 percent of participants experiencing suicidal thoughts at some point in their lifetime and 30 percent experiencing suicidal thoughts within the 12 months preceding the survey. In addition, 14 percent had made a specific plan in the 12 months before the survey, and 2.3 percent attempted suicide in the 12 months before the survey.

The impact of adverse childhood experiences ( ACEs) has been well established since a landmark population-based study published in the late 1990s demonstrated a strong association between exposure to toxic stress in childhood and a wide range of adverse mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood, from substance use to cancer. Since the original study by Felitti et al. (1998), subsequent research has validated the graded, dose-dependent relationship between childhood adversity and adult health.

I perched next to someone I knew. "You know, the only people who act like that are on drugs." I ignorantly spoke, parroting the messaging I'd been getting for a few years now. They stopped. "You know, I used to use drugs." Here was someone I respected sitting next to me, and what they said challenged everything I thought I understood.

Secure attachment is the most important foundation we can offer to our children, every bit as vital as nutrition, health care, and education, or even more so.