{"id":6879,"date":"2017-12-07T19:24:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T03:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=6879"},"modified":"2025-12-09T19:26:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T03:26:18","slug":"introducing-aces-and-resilience-now-in-el-dorado-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2017\/12\/07\/introducing-aces-and-resilience-now-in-el-dorado-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing ACEs and Resilience Now in El Dorado County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cris Alarcon, El Dorado County ACEs Collaborative, and various academic sources]<\/em><\/p>\n

— A little-known but hard working group of people are trying to save the children of El Dorado County — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it sounds like a sensational headline, but saving the children of EDC did not seen sensational to me, to just seemed like something that should be done. \u00a0Maybe because at one time, I was one of those children of El Dorado County that needed saving. \u00a0What was sensational to me was the recent discovery of how an abusive\/neglectful childhood results in an astronomically higher likelihood of serious physical health issues much later in life.<\/p>\n

At age 50 I was diagnosed with epilepsy after I was hospitalized due to an extended Grand mal seizure of about a half an hour before they were able to stop it at Marshall Medical Center in Placerville. \u00a0I had never had anything like that in my life! \u00a0After a year of testing I discovered that I have had epilepsy most of my life and that it likely started from early childhood traumas. \u00a0It went unnoticed until it worsened as I aged. \u00a0Thus began my research into epilepsy and my own road to self-discovery where I discovered that most of the things I believed about myself, were wrong!<\/p>\n

Like most physical traumas, there is an accompanying psychological companion element. \u00a0In learning about my epilepsy, I discovered that I had both long-ago physical traumas, and their companion psychological traumas. Old survival reactions that hold sway over me today, even if they are now counter-productive.<\/p>\n

Physiologically each epilepsy has its own characteristics depending on what part of the brain is effected. \u00a0In my case it is epileptic activity with a focal of my right frontal lobe. \u00a0This part of our brains control things like higher reasoning, emotions, logic and is expressed in short (less than a minute) seizures both while asleep and awake. \u00a0Two of the better known conditions related to this area include Turrets Syndrome and “Absence seizures” where a person becomes unresponsive or “zones out” for less than a minute. \u00a0For me, the most significant affect is that I easily become extremely or excessively emotional. \u00a0I cry for for crushed insects and become very angry at the most insignificant irritants. \u00a0It has been the inability to properly respond to my resurfacing “feelings” that has made me stop and seriously seek change.<\/p>\n

That is how I came to find the results of the ACEs study and recognize the disturbing parallels to my own life. \u00a0I also found many of the keys to understanding my “feelings.”\u00a0Critical for me was gaining the understanding that most of my strong emotions today were the same responses that I learned as a young child to survive, but that I had never modify into a more productive adult response. \u00a0I had to understand that my behavior at 52 was directly learned responses from my early childhood. \u00a0I \u00a0learned to suppress my emotions as a young child to survive rough events. \u00a0This passage gave me great insight:<\/p>\n

Van der Kolk continues with the statement that grabbed me: \u201cwhat makes life unbearable is not emotions but physical sensations<\/em>.\u201d
\n\u201cWhen you have a persistent sense of heartbreak and gutwrench, the physical sensations become intolerable and we will do anything to make those feelings disappear. And that is really the origin of what happens in human pathology. People take drugs to make it disappear, and they cut themselves to make it disappear, and they starve themselves to make it disappear, and they have sex with anyone who comes along to make it disappear and once you have these horrible sensations in your body, you\u2019ll do anything to make it go away.\u201d
\n\u201cIf these sensations last long enough, your whole brain starts fighting against emotions. And what happens in the long range is that traumatized people who continuously have a state of heartbreak and gut wrenching feelings learn to shut off the sensations in their bodies. And they go through life not feeling their physical presence<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I asked a few close and long-time friends, “Are these different behaviors or simply Enhanced intensity of my old normal behaviors. \u00a0Each had the same take, it was the same me but to a more excessive level! \u00a0That meant that the long epileptic seizure had cost me the ability to bury my emotions the way I had for most of my life. \u00a0They were on the surface and they were strangers to me.<\/p>\n

I have an excellent neurologist, and maybe the best clinical counselor in the county. My neurologist explained it to me in the geek-terms she knew I would best understand: I had a bad spot on my harddrive (brain with a place of abnormal epileptic electrical activity) and we could work a software fix (psychological), we could partition the section (surgery), but we could not replace the harddrive. \u00a0I was a candidate for the first option, learning how to live with my “new norm.”<\/p>\n

That is how I found ACEs. \u00a0Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that have significant, long term impacts on children\u2019s developing brains resulting in poor health, social and mental health conditions.<\/p>\n

Background:<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study \u2014 the largest, most important public health study you never heard of \u2014 began in an obesity clinic.<\/p>\n

The Center for Disease Control, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, lead one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and later-life health and well-being, referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. \u00a0Through this study, an ACES screening tool was developed to assess an individual\u2019s emotional, physical and sexual abuse; household challenges such as violence, substance abuse, mental illness, divorce and incarceration; emotional and physical neglect. \u00a0Overall, the greater the number of ACEs a child experiences, the increased likelihood that they will experience costly, long-term health outcomes. \u00a0The best intervention is to build resiliency in children through a trauma informed approach.<\/p>\n

The CDC\u2019s Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) uncovered a stunning link between childhood trauma and the chronic diseases people develop as adults, as well as social and emotional problems. This includes heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes and many autoimmune diseases, as well as depression, violence, being a victim of violence, and suicide.<\/p>\n

The first research results were published in 1998, followed by 57 other publications through 2011. They showed that:<\/p>\n

— childhood trauma was very common, even in employed white middle-class, college-educated people with great health insurance;
\n— there was a direct link between childhood trauma and adult onset of chronic disease, as well as depression, suicide, being violent and a victim of violence;
\n— more types of trauma increased the risk of health, social and emotional problems.
\n— people usually experience more than one type of trauma \u2013 rarely is it only sex abuse or only verbal abuse.<\/p>\n

A whopping two thirds of the 17,000 people in the ACE Study had an ACE score of at least one \u2014 87 percent of those had more than one. Eighteen states have done their own ACE surveys; their results are similar to the CDC\u2019s ACE Study.<\/p>\n

Childhood trauma isn\u2019t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who\u2019ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer.<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s researchers came up with an ACE score to explain a person\u2019s risk for chronic disease. Think of it as a cholesterol score for childhood toxic stress. You get one point for each type of trauma. The higher your ACE score, the higher your risk of health and social problems. \u00a0As your ACE score increases, so does the risk of disease, social and emotional problems. With an ACE score of 4 or more, things start getting serious.<\/p>\n

The likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases 390 percent; hepatitis, 240 percent; depression 460 percent; suicide, 1,220 percent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I ranked an eight of ten on the ACEs scale and study results read like a textbook of my life. \u00a0I came to understood that the only way to deal with my emotions today, was to get to know them, what triggers them, and why. \u00a0The why goes back to my childhood and the ACEs program helped me understand that even those old, established responses can be changed with thoughtful efforts. \u00a0I also concur strongly with the study’s fundamental conclusion that it is far better to prevent this kind of damage than it is to try to repair it afterward.<\/p>\n

(By the way, lest you think that the ACE Study was yet another involving inner-city poor people of color, take note: The study\u2019s participants were 17,000 mostly white, middle and upper-middle class college-educated San Diegans with good jobs and health care \u2013 they all belonged to the Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization.)<\/p>\n

What causes this?<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

At the same time that the ACE Study was being done, parallel research on kids\u2019 brains found that toxic stress physically damages a child\u2019s developing brain. This was determined by a group of neuroscientists and pediatricians, including neuroscientist Martin Teicher and pediatrician Jack Shonkoff, both at Harvard University, neuroscientist Bruce McEwen at Rockefeller University, and pediatrician Bruce Perry at the Child Trauma Academy.<\/p>\n

When children are overloaded with stress hormones, they\u2019re in flight, fright or freeze mode. They can\u2019t learn in school. They often have difficulty trusting adults or developing healthy relationships with peers (i.e., they become loners). To relieve their anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, and\/or inability to focus, they turn to easily available biochemical solutions \u2014 nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine \u2014 or activities in which they can escape their problems \u2014 high-risk sports, proliferation of sex partners, and work\/over-achievement. (e.g. Nicotine reduces anger, increases focus and relieves depression. Alcohol relieves stress.)<\/p>\n

Using drugs or overeating or engaging in risky behavior leads to consequences as a direct result of this behavior. For example, smoking can lead to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or lung cancer. Overeating can lead to obesity and diabetes. In addition, there is increasing research that shows that severe and chronic stress leads to bodily systems producing an inflammatory response that leads to disease.<\/p>\n

For more information about that aspect:\u00a0http:\/\/www.coleva.net\/COLEVA-Main-2-2-2011-v2.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Fortunately, brains and lives are somewhat plastic. The appropriate integration of resilience factors born out of ACE concepts \u2014 such as asking for help, developing trusting relationships, forming a positive attitude, listening to feelings \u2014 can help people improve their lives.<\/p>\n

Often termed\u00a0“Your Resilience Score” was not developed for research but to prompt reflection and conversation on experiences that may help protect most people with four or more ACEs from developing negative outcomes.<\/p>\n

In Brief: \u00a0What is Resilience?\u00a0<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress \u2014 such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means “bouncing back” from difficult experiences.<\/p>\n

Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People commonly demonstrate resilience. One example is the response of many Americans to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and individuals’ efforts to rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n

Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn’t experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.<\/p>\n

Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone.The science of resilience can help us understand why some children do well despite serious adversity. Resilience is a combination of protective factors that enable people to adapt in the face of serious hardship, and is essential to ensuring that children who experience adversity can still become healthy, productive citizens.<\/p>\n

In 2015, El Dorado ACEs collaborative was formed as a communitywide response to eliminate Adverse Childhood Experiences in our County, creating an awareness of the impacts of trauma and promoting prevention, early intervention and treatment for families.<\/p>\n

Over 90 members representing agencies, community-based organizations and individuals, participate in the collaborative. Objectives are guided by the Steering Committee and achieved through Sector Work Groups that represent the communities we live in and areas of expertise: South Lake Tahoe, the Divide, Education, Health, Public Safety, Community, Social Services\/Foster Care, and Behavioral Health. \u00a0In the last year, the\u00a0members have:<\/p>\n

— Developed two-year action plans for all work groups to bring attention to the long term impacts of adverse childhood experiences and implement trauma informed strategies to support families.
\n— Created an awareness of the impact of trauma through educational presentations.
\n— Constructed El Dorado ACEs Connection website offering information on adverse childhood experiences and resources for trauma informed care.
\n— Mapped community assets to identify prevention, early intervention and treatment services.
\n— Incorporated trauma informed approaches in the El Dorado County Community Health Improvement (CHIP) Plan.<\/p>\n

Learning more about ACEs:<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Find your ACE and resiliency score:\u00a0www.acestoohigh.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Discover the impacts of ACEs:\u00a0www.acesconnection.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information about the CDC ACE Study:\u00a0http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ace\/index.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Participating in local events \u00a0http:\/\/www.acesconnection.com\/g\/el-dorado-county-ca-aces-connection<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a three-part sequence about resilience. These videos provide an overview of Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strengthen the Foundations of Resilience, a working paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
\nPart 1-\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cqO7YoMsccU<\/a>
\nPart 2-\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1r8hj72bfGo<\/a>
\nPart 3-\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xSf7pRpOgu8<\/a><\/p>\n

Ten Ways to Increase Resilience-\u00a0http:\/\/www.apa.org\/helpcenter\/road-resilience.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

[I want to acknowledge that although I composed the personal parts and general observations, I lifted much of the academic work from several academic journals with few edits, and even fewer deserved credits. \u00a0I did this to reduce the length of an already overly lengthy article to improve readability for a broader audience. \u00a0It does not reflect the value or deserved credit of any unnamed contributors. Cris Alarcon.]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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