What are ACEs? 
ACEs are also known as Adverse Childhood Experiences. Adverse Experiences are also commonly known as Trauma.

 

What is Trauma? 

Trauma is a soul wound that occurs as a result of an event in which you were unable to escape. In this eBook, we will explore aspects of Complex Trauma, also called, complex PTSD. Complex Trauma, although not in the DSM (Manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose), is nevertheless recognized by trauma-informed therapists who’ve acquired a working knowledge of this psychological illness. Because complex PTSD traits are so similar to those of borderline personality disorder (BPD), some of the information included will reference BPD.

 

Complex trauma develops as a result of repeated traumatic experiences, beginning in childhood. Although it’s against the law for a parent to abuse their children physically, emotional abuse is prevalent, but doesn’t bear the obvious marks such as bruises. Children living in a home where domestic violence or alcoholism are present, will eventually begin to “act out” what they’ve been exposed to. The Family Systems Theory teaches that children in a toxic home can become “symptom bearers.” In other words, the child’s mental illness or behavior issues are accurately mirroring the behaviors of the parents. 

Our brains are wired for survival. When we encounter danger, our brain’s limbic system becomes engaged, and our senses become primed for action. Whether it’s a child growing up in domestic violence, or an adult being kidnapped, the brain switches on the fight or flight response system, that says, “Alert! Danger!” In fact, when the limbic system has been switched on repeatedly, a biochemical imprint is left on the brain that makes the person hypersensitive to cues in the environment that might be signaling danger. This hyperarousal is why someone with PTSD can react as if danger is present, when it isn’t. This is because the person has repeatedly been in situations where they were not safe, or they did not feel safe. Since our survival instinct is so powerful, we adapt to our environment. Problems occur when those adaptations, spawned by managing life in chaos, are carried over later in life. The skills you learned in your dysfunction will not serve well outside that toxic environment—the environment that generated the dysfunction and emotional dysregulation in the first place. Therefore, new habits and healthier ways of thinking are part of the process of healing from trauma.