Counselor: Childhood trauma can lead to future health, work issues

Traumatic childhood experiences can have a profound impact and lead to a host of physical, mental, economic and social issues in adulthood and in the local workforce, according to a presentation on Wednesday, May 25 by Health Care and Rehabilitation Services Area Manager and counselor Bill Brown.

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2016-05-26 / Front Page Counselor: Childhood trauma can lead to future health, work issues By Tory Jones Bonenfant Health Care and Rehabilitation Services Area Manager and Counselor Bill Brown displays a graphic of adverse effects of childhood trauma that may affect school environments and employment later in life. — TORY JONES BONENFANT Health Care and Rehabilitation Services Area Manager and Counselor Bill Brown displays a graphic of adverse effects of childhood trauma that may affect school environments and employment later in life. — TORY JONES BONENFANT SPRINGFIELD — Traumatic childhood experiences can have a profound impact and lead to a host of physical, mental, economic and social issues in adulthood and in the local workforce, according to a presentation on Wednesday, May 25 by Health Care and Rehabilitation Services Area Manager and counselor Bill Brown. “There have been 37,000 academic articles since 1997” on the subject, Brown said, and about 72 different categories of long-term health issues have been correlated directly to 10 adverse childhood experiences, including personal and family trauma and abuse. Ten people from local schools, agencies and businesses attended the informational workshop and presentation, in collaboration with the River Valley Workforce Investment Board and Springfield Regional Development Corp., in Springfield. The workshop was based on research that has demonstrated a connection between negative life experiences — such as parental substance abuse, dysfunctional households or long-term poverty — on poor outcomes, early aging, and mental, behavioral and physical health problems in adulthood, Brown said. Studies show that 10 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) increased the likelihood of those maladies later in life, he said. The ACES survey is not a screening process, he said, but is a survey intended to help identify what health issues people may be likely to have, look at intervention and support for them, and help employers use strategies to mitigate these challenges. Health clinics, justice centers, and systems of care may be able to use this survey to help shape the care they offer, he said. Especially with children and youth, “what we can do every day is provide hope for the people we encounter,” he said. “Say, ‘We will make it, we have hope’ … They will keep their heads above the water.” The 10 questions on the ACEs Survey, developed in the 1990s, attempt to identify personal and family factors dating back to early childhood, and even to prenatal environments. These include physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, or a parent addicted to drugs or alcohol, a mother who was a victim of domestic violence, a family member in jail, a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, and the disappearance of a parent through divorce, death or abandonment. Each type of trauma counts as “one” in the ACE score, so a person who was verbally abused, had addiction in the home, and was emotionally neglected would have a score of 3, according to that theory. In Springfield, all of the students in one of the early grades have an ACE score of 6, he said. In that case, the goal could be to help plan their trajectory, and plan for how to deal with factors such as abuse, he said. At this time, “we should be identifying the people about to have children” in the 18-25-year-old range, and help that population by investing in early childhood intervention programs to help decrease the burden on society later in life, Brown said. Higher ACE scores are correlated to health problems such as smoking and lung disease, and to economic factors such as impaired worker performance in adults. Statistics show that, for example, 64 percent of Americans have an ACE score of 1, due to circumstances such as a divorce. Of those people with an ACE score of 1, 87 percent of those people have at least one more point in their ACE profile, Brown said. The numbers can point to other outcomes, he said. For example, the risk of depression increases as much as 66 percent for people with a score of 4 or more, and there is a 5,000 percent increase in suicide attempts for people who score a 6, as compared to those who score a 0, he said. As to its impact on local economy, the Center for Disease Control estimates lifetime costs associated with child maltreatment at $124 billion, Brown said. In the workforce and community, that can include increased productivity loss, health care costs, child welfare costs, special education costs, and funding for the criminal justice system. Pediatricians monitor growth and milestones in children, and “we don’t do that at all with environmental and mental health,” Brown said. Thirty or 40 years after early childhood trauma or living in environments with addiction or abuse, personal experiences build up into “a dire psychological profile,” he said. It also affects local businesses. “These are dollars going out the door, both from your business and your taxes … And people live less,” Brown said. Part of the reason early childhood trauma is associated with illness is a shortening and fraying of telomeres in the body, when the immune system becomes less able to deal with physical conditions of aging and stress, he said. In terms of disability claims in the workforce, it can be a “significant impact,” he said. This does not apply to everyone, however, as some people can channel those traumas into increased self-awareness, post-traumatic growth, greater appreciation of life and a changed sense of priorities. Oprah Winfrey has an ACE score of 9 or 10, Brown said. “So it is not necessarily predictive. Difficult experiences don’t have to be traumatic,” he said. For those who are affected by adverse childhood experiences, “chronic toxic stress,” or prolonged activation of stress response due to long-term “allostatic load” of stress chemicals in the body can worsen later health issues, and make people more likely to judge every situation as a possible danger, and react defensively or offensively, he said. The brain then tends to focus on “How do I survive today?” he said. In children, it may be presented as “Just stay safe today,” he said. That chronic toxic stress can be the result of abuse, chronic poverty, or household trauma, and it can be measured in a blood sample, he said. Brown said one of the reasons for his presentation is for people to think of this not as a psychological condition, but as a physiological condition, and look at how to treat it or prevent it during childhood. Children with already-high ACE scores may be dealing with what they consider danger signs, such as alcohol on a parent’s breath, creaking floorboard, a hint of impatience from another parent, and “that’s affecting children in classrooms, especially here in Springfield,” he said. It may be a result of a broken family system or from repositioning a child, he said. Brown said he has been giving presentations on the subject to area organizations, and is available to speak at schools. At work, that may include managing teams in ways to reduce active aggression like chiding or sarcasm, or offering “de-stressing spaces.” Brown said he is trying to build in strategies that any school or workplace can use to build on what they are already doing, rather than try to create a new program or department, he said. For more information, or to request a presentation on ACEs, Brown can be reached at wbrown@hcrs.org.