Adverse Childhood Experience Study-Is your past trauma slowing killing you? Part 1

Trauma often creates a state of severe and chronic stress. It is akin to a 3rd degree emotional burn that lingers long after someone has gotten out of the fire.

One landmark study, the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Study is the largest study of its kind ever conducted (more than 17,000 study participants) to determine the range of how adverse childhood experiences and health related outcomes and addictions intersected. The effect studied was unprecedented.

The Centre for Disease Control teamed up with Kaiser Permanente to develop:

"… a large-scale epidemiologic study of the influence of stressful and traumatic childhood experiences on the origins of behaviors that underlie the leading causes of disability, social problems, health related behaviors, and causes of death in the United States. Unlike most prior studies in this area which had tended to focus on single types of childhood abuse (especially sexual abuse) and specific health problems (usually mental health issues), the ACE Study was designed to simultaneously assess childhood exposure to multiple types of abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and types of serious household dysfunction such as substance abuse.‖ (http://www.acestudy.org/files/ARV1N1.pdf pg. 3)

The ACE study revealed that the majority of participants had experienced adverse childhood experiences (i.e. trauma‘s) 50 years earlier and that most of us are not just subject to one adverse condition (i.e. having an alcoholic parent and everything else is perfect) but in fact groupings of toxic experiences.

Among the Initial ACE Study Findings: ACEs Are Common

• Two-thirds of participants reported at least one ACE

ACEs Tend to Occur in Groups

• Of persons who reported at least one ACE, 87% reported at least one other ACE.
• 70% reported 2 or more others, and more than half had 3 or more others!
• Only 1/3 of those studied had not had adverse experiences and for those that did, their past was still affecting them (their health) 50 years later. The adage of ―Time will heal all wounds‖ just doesn‘t add up.

How does this relate to addiction?

Of those with higher ACE scores here are the results:

When compared to persons with an ACE score of 0: Those with an ACE score of 4 or more were

•  twice as likely to be smokers
•  12 times more likely to have attempted suicide
•  7 times more likely to be alcoholic and
• 10 times more likely to have injected street drugs.

The behaviors such as alcohol or drug abuse, smoking, or sexual promiscuity are likely the result of the effects of ACEs on childhood development, which we now know to be neurodevelopment. In many, if not most cases the behaviors may act to alleviate the emotional or social distress that results from ACEs. Thus, these behaviors, typically considered to be problems, continue because they function as short-term solutions, even though they have detrimental, long-term effects. The findings from the ACE Study suggest that problems such as addiction frequently have their origins in the traumatic experiences of childhood (pg.3)"

More of these findings will be discussed in the next blog.

Best of health and warmest regards, Paul Radkowski

Psychotherapist, CEO/Clinical Director, Life Recovery Program

Internet Changing Addiction Treatment, Expert Says

 The Parternership at drugfree.org (16/10/2012) By Celia Vimont

Web-based programs are proving to be an innovative and powerful adjunct to addiction treatment, according to an expert on internet treatment strategies. However, they are not meant to replace face-to-face addiction treatment, notes Paul Radkowski, CEO/Clinical Director at Life Recovery Program in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Internet addiction programs range from web-based education interventions, to self-guided web-based therapeutic programs, to human-supported web-based therapies, Radkowski explained at the recent annual meeting of the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC).

“Addiction is a 24/7 issue, and requires 24/7 solutions. Internet programs can help address that need. They are not meant to replace face-to-face modalities, which provide support and accountability, but can supplement them,” Radkowski said.

While research on online programs for addiction treatment is still in a relatively early stage, some studies have suggested it is a promising area, he states. One study of computer-delivered interventions for alcohol and tobacco use concluded that computer-delivered treatments that can be accessed via the Internet may represent a cost-effective means of treating uncomplicated substance use and related problems. Another study of a brief personalized Internet-based program for problem drinkers found it reduced alcohol consumption for about six months.

Online programs can be especially helpful for people waiting for treatment slots in publicly funded programs, he noted. “With increasing budget cuts in Canada as well as the U.S., the supply for traditional forms of treatment is decreasing, while the demand is increasing,” he said. “Online programs are a way to get people started while they wait for traditional treatment.” Internet programs can be very helpful to people living in rural areas, who do not have easy access to in-person treatment.

They also can be appealing to some people who don’t seek face-to-face treatment because of the stigma of having a substance use disorder.

A growing number of treatment programs are using online components as part of aftercare, either through support groups or online contact with counselors, Radkowski noted.

One obvious appeal of online programs is their lower cost compared with face-to-face programs, he said. “Of course, for someone not medically stable, or with complicated issues, more intensive in-person treatment is needed.”

An additional benefit of Internet programs is that a person can review information repeatedly online, whenever they feel they need it, Radkowski pointed out. “When someone is struggling in the dark hours of the night, and doesn’t know what to do, they can go online, and it helps them self-regulate.”

The online program at Radkowski’s agency, the Life Recovery Program, includes a series of modules released every two weeks, along with behavioral contracts and peer support forums. “We took what worked with us on the front line, and put it online,” he said.