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ACEs and the Forgotten Black Woman: The Public Health Threat Affecting Our Communities

Posted on August 15, 2024
Outline of head with scribbles inside and out

By Sherita Mouzon, Community Engagement Assistant

What are ACEs?

A landmark study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Keiser Permanente investigated the effects of child abuse and related adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as a public health problem over time. An adverse childhood experience is a major traumatic event that happen in childhood like abuse, neglect, rape, loss of parent to death/divorce/imprisonment, family mental health/illness, and exposure to substance abuse. According to the CD study, 63 percent of US adults have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience. More than 17 percent reported experiencing 4 or more ACEs. Women are at a 26% higher risk of having experienced four or more ACEs than men, which can cause depression, high blood pressure, alcoholism, and more. Non-Asian people of color (Black, Hispanic, Native American, and multiracial) are also more likely to experience 4 or more ACEs than those who identify as white or Asian.

How childhood trauma can show up

I didn’t have one caring adult in my life except my grandmother. She was a victim of domestic violence, and my mother experienced mental illness, alcoholism, and domestic violence. I was born into a storm that I wasn’t prepared for. I grew up with a hardwired toxic stress response from hearing my mom getting beaten when I couldn’t help her. In those situations, my brain stopped working, and I was always in a state of complete fear. My dad who was an alcoholic and heroin addict died from a brain tumor when I was 12. Then I continued to see and hear my mom be abused over the years at the hands of my step pop. I was just a child, but I was always in a fight or freeze mode. On top of observing the abuse, I also experienced sexual abuse firsthand and didn’t have even one trusting individual I could talk to. If that wasn’t enough, through experiencing poverty, abandoned houses, and food insecurity – my trauma was everywhere. I wondered why I always feel triggered and experienced a very deep dark depression for what I thought was no reason. Understanding the impact of my childhood trauma can explain why.

Trauma in childhood impacts how the brain functions long after we grow up. Even now as a 47-year-old, if I get over stimulated, I go into panic mode or have extreme paranoia. My brain makes me feel a range of emotions from euphoria to numbness and even isolation. Even my actions are influenced by the trauma of my childhood. Because I experienced food insecurity, I still over buy food. My brain is always activated when there is no threat. It can be hard to discuss this experience with others. How can I tell people about this if they can't relate to my experiences? It is impossible for them to truly know the pain of food insecurity if they never had to worry about eating, for example.

Trauma and Parenthood

Raising a daughter, I often ask, how do I get rid of toxic stress? I've been taught what to do, but it still haunts me. I don’t want to pass this multi-generational curse to my daughter. I struggle with how to tell her that her bloodline is tainted by oppression, intellectual disability, and drug and alcohol addiction. I don’t want her to die at an early age from high blood pressure and cancer because of the impact of intergenerational trauma on her body. How can I help her and tell her why I’m so protective of her? That I love her so much because my mother never loved me. Having a mother that gave birth to me but was incapable of giving me what she didn’t get from her parents is why I try to love her so deeply.

Through understanding my mother’s childhood and experience of ACEs, I learned to have empathy and understanding. Even though my own childhood was traumatic, it was not as sad as hers. I had to understand that she was in survival mode and turned to drinking to numb her pain. I did the same thing to cope with my trauma. I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. Now I have high blood pressure and brain dysfunction because of my addiction and trauma.

All of this makes me wonder, why is trauma so common and pervasive and how to I keep from passing it on to my daughter the way it was for me?

How do we provide healing?

We can start to heal by understanding and talking about HOPE! I had to harness a very strong internal desire of wanting better for myself and my daughter as part of this hope. I never want her to have to carry the pain of our ancestors. The hope that she can give her children even more beautiful opportunities.

I had to realize that I am not my trauma, and there are ways to change the brain because of its neuroplasticity, meaning its ability to adapt and rewire itself. Yes, your brain can make new connections, and you do not have to be a prisoner to the toxic thought processes.

To do this, I had to surround myself and my daughter with healthy relationships with good people.

I had to delve into the research around healing from trauma and implementing them in my life. My daughter and I check in on how we are feeling using a tool called community meeting, which allows us to name our emotions. I try to create a sanctuary environment in my house with a focus on open and non-judgmental communication and nonviolence, which I learned at the Center for Hunger-Free Communities.

Taking my power back

I often wonder how I came out of my trauma and more than 20 years of addiction with a resilience that knows no bounds.

Having unconditional positive regard for my mother as well as others allows me to take back the power I lost through trauma. Embracing forgiveness and the ability to meet people where they're at empowers me. I am using my story of trauma and healing to provide inspiration and motivation to break the cycle of multi-generational trauma. I hope to support the voiceless and give them a voice. Practicing mindfulness, meditation, and journaling allows me to welcome positive thoughts.

For you to do this, you must go deep within yourself and ask your higher power (whoever and whatever) for guidance, love and strength. But you can do it too.

Posted in Health and Wellbeing, Trauma and Healing