TED Talk How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime

In this TED Talk Nadine Burke Harris discussed childhood trauma and the different ways your health is affected by it. Severe threats, abuse and neglect , parent with a mental illness or substance dependence are all different forms of trauma a child may experience. High doses of trauma can affect brain development and function , immune system and developing hormonal systems. There is a 20 year life expectancy difference to those exposed to very high doses of trauma. The adverse childhood experience study interviewed 17,500 adults on their history of exposure. Exposure includes

Physical, emotional , sexual abuse

Physical and emotional neglect

Parental mental illness

Incarceration/ divorce

Domestic violence

Sixty seven percent had atleast one ACE. 12.6%(1 in 8 people) had 4 or more ACEs. The higher the ACE score, the worse health outcomes they had.

Those with four or more ACEs were found to have 4 and half more chances of developing depression and are twelve times more likely to have suicidal tendencies.

These facts are scary and are often looked over.Watching this Ted talk made me realize childhood trauma isn’t widely discussed as a important topic but effects a large group of people worldwide. As Nadine Burke Harris states in the video we need to start recognizing childhood trauma as a medical issue so symptoms are treated and don’t go without being treated and worsen with age. With many cases of childhood trauma going undiagnosed adults live and suffer with the trauma but once we start recognizing and treating this trauma seriously , the number of adults living with this trauma will greatly decrease.