Scared Sick: The Relationship Between Trauma and Disease Susan E. Craig, Ph.D. Visit my blog at

Child Abuse in the United States » Trauma is a public health problem estimated to effect 26% of all children in the United States (SAMHSA, 2011). Family violence is the #1 cause of childhood trauma. Just under five children in the United States die every day as a result of child abuse.

Child Well-being in the United States » 1 in 100 infants each year is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a preventable cause of mental retardation and learning disabilities. ¼ of the children insured by Medco took prescription drugs to manage a chronic disease. 13% of children ages eight to fifteen have had a diagnosable mental illness within the last year.

Adult Well-being in the United States 26% of adults in the United States over eighteen have a diagnosable mental disorder(NIMH, 2010). ¼ of American adults over eighteen meet the criteria for a substance abuse disorder. 18% of adults in the United States over eighteen have an anxiety disorder.

What’s the Connection ? The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study “The most important public health study that you have never heard of.”

ACEs Too High Adults Continue to affect adult health and behavior Accounts for intergenerational transmission of violence, poverty, and neglect Reduces the ability of adults to provide children with a “modulated nervous system to help them regulate their physical and emotional being”.

Childhood Experiences and Adult Alcoholism

Adverse Childhood Experiences and History of STD

ACEs Too High Children Traumatize Children – Overwhelm Their Capacity to Cope Trauma Alters Brain Development in Predictable Ways Changes in Brain Interfere with Academic and Social Competence, Increase Risk of Disease Children w/ ACE Score of 4+ are 47 time more likely than peers to be depressed, 12 times more likely to commit suicide

Trauma and the Brain “the young mind is as driven to obliterate the chronic pain of loss and rejection as it is to escape physical pain.” Survival Brain Emotional Brain Logical Brain

Trauma and Children’s Health » Asthma- Risk more than doubled in predisposed children exposed to marital strife or maternal depression » ADHD – Often associated with low birth weight and maternal depression Obesity and chronic inflammation - biomarkers in blood-C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 that show inflammation in the body.

“They do not want to hear what their children suffer. They’ve made the telling of the suffering itself taboo” From Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker Yet the Silence Continues From ACE Study Slides: Vincent Felitti From ACE Study Slides: Vincent Felitti

Criminal Justice Problems and Unaddressed Sexual/Physical Abuse More than 75% of girls in juvenile justice system Calhoun et al, % of women in prison and jails Smith, % of men on death row Freedman, Hemenway, 2000 Boys who commit violence van der Kolk, 1998

What to Do Recognize that trauma causes children to carry RELENTLESS needs for safety and survival into classrooms and everyday experiences. The presence of caring adults can restore safety and mitigate effects High incidence calls for trauma-sensitive schools

Trauma-sensitive Supports Trauma-sensitive Interviews, Case Histories Collaboration w/ Parents Collaboration w/Staff Screening

Trauma-sensitive Supports Know How to Manage the “Double Struggle” Know How to “Find the Fear” Know How to Collaborate Work as a Team