My Life is a Journey Not a Destination: Lifestyle Blog
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss/Healthy Living
  • Contact me
  • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • About me
    • Colombia
  • Network and other affiliations

The Power of Three: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences

2/7/2020

11 Comments

 
This post is made possible with support from the American Academy of Pediatrics through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All opinions are my own.
The Power of Three: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences
We all know that depression in adults can be related to stressful situations at work, home, and even hormonal imbalances. However, did you know that there is a link between Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) and depression in adults? Reality is that addressing ACEs in childhood could reduce the number of adults with depression by as much as 44%.

So what are Adverse Childhood Events

According to CDC, Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). For example:
  • experiencing violence or abuse
  • witnessing violence in the home or community
  • having a family member attempt or die by suicide
Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding such as growing up in a household with:
  • substance misuse
  • mental health problems
  • instability due to parental separation or household members being in jail or prison
As you can imagine, ACEs can have lasting and negative effects on the child’s health that can lead to several chronic diseases and leading causes of death such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide. Plus, ACEs are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance misuse in adulthood. ACEs can also negatively impact education and job opportunities.

However, ACEs can be prevented and the potential reduction of negative outcomes in adulthood by preventing ACEs is pretty remarkable, as you can see in this figure.
The Power of Three: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences

How to prevent ACEs

ACEs and their associated harms are preventable. Everyone can play a role in building safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for children.
​
One of the first steps we have to do is create awareness and help others understand what ACEs are. Acknowledging that there is a problem is a great place to start. Then we have to analyze the causes and what we can do as a society to help.
[object Object]
But we are all part of the solution, too. If you are part of a church group, PTA, girls or boy scouts, or any other group, you can help educate others. We all need to know where to find resources we can rely on. It is recommended that you #FindYour3.

This means find three support systems. They can be people, services, or community resources. This support system prevents or mitigates the effects of ACEs in your home or your friend’s home. Parental stress plays a huge factor in ACEs.

Who can be part of your three? #findyour3

Think of people who can support you or your kids. Friends, teachers, pastors, community leaders, and even your doctor.

Stop for a minute here and think who can you or your kids turn to for support during difficult times? Can you name your three? I know I can. I would reach out to my best friend, my aunt, and my doctor.

We all need to find our three. But here’s the thing: The people I am reaching out to also need their three. It is a chain. We all find our three to prevent ACEs.

Remember YOU can be that safe, stable, nurturing relationships for others in your community.
A piece of advice. As much as I want to be part of my son’s three, it might be helpful to teach him that he needs other trusted adults in his life to talk about issues. So I am talking with him, and I am asking him to create a list with his three.

I am taking my son out for a “date” so we can talk more about who his three should be. I am going to have a few suggestions for him, but I am going to let him choose them based on how confident he is going to feel talking about his personal life with them.

The people that I am going to suggest to my son: The coach at the chess team, the team leader at the Boy Scout troop, and his doctor. They are all people he trusts, and they are available to him on an ongoing basis.

When I moved to the US from Colombia and picked my three, I realized that although one of my three was a wonderful person, they were not available for me when I needed them. I learned then and will be passing the words of wisdom to my son. Make sure your three know why you choose them and that they can be there for you.

Build a network around you with supportive people. It might change someone's life, including your own!
The Power of Three: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences
11 Comments
Cristina Petrini link
2/7/2020 08:08:10 am


Although they are not parents, I am really sensitive to these topics and therefore I like to read about them, get informed and so I can do something about it.

Reply
Melissa Cushing
2/7/2020 10:54:55 am

Thank you for sharing and a very informative post that everyone should read, especially before deciding on having a family. Sometimes people overcome things like this and are stronger for it and others not so much so I appreciate you sharing and educating everyone on this important topic.

Reply
Brandy link
2/7/2020 09:02:13 pm

What an interesting topic to discuss. Of course most of us always want to try to prevent adverse childhood experiences, but I think mine helped me become stronger so I am thankful for them, even if they screwed me up for bit ;)

Reply
Cathy
2/8/2020 11:48:52 am

This is beyond informative. Thank you for sharing this. So many people can benefit from reading all about how to prevent this!

Reply
Yeah Lifestyle link
2/8/2020 12:18:13 pm

I agree, that as a parent, it is so important for us to build a safe and stable environment for children, so thank you for enforcing that

Reply
Rosey
2/8/2020 12:27:56 pm

As a teacher, I see so many situations affecting children. Good and bad. The latter are sad to see.

Reply
Heather link
2/8/2020 01:05:37 pm

I wish we could prevent our kids from ever having to deal with any of these things early on in life.

Reply
Lisa link
2/8/2020 11:15:54 pm

Thanks for sharing this helpful post! It's important to realize how childhood events both positive and adverse, can shape our lives and futures. If we keep this in mind and help kids with their trusted 3, hopefully we can reduce the issues that may come up later in life. Tx again for sharing!

xoxo,
Lisa | @occasionallyluxe
https://www.occasionallyluxe.com

Reply
Lisa
2/9/2020 03:21:27 am

I don’t have kids (yet), but I read this with great interest. You’ve given me some good points to think about, and I'll be mindful of this for the future.

Reply
Windy
2/10/2020 10:29:05 am

This is truly an important conversation to have. So many children go through a lot of trauma and this would be helpful to help them.

Reply
Nicole Bertrand link
2/10/2020 02:22:52 pm

As a parent, I'm always wondering what is affecting my child negatively and what is not. This was a super informative post!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Follow Us

    Follow us Instagram
    @monicazyoung
    Picture
    Picture
    Tripadvisor Influencer

    Categories

    All
    50 Things To Do Before Turning 50
    5k Or Races
    All
    Beauty
    Bento
    Cars
    Challenges
    Christmas
    Colombia
    Crafts
    Culture
    Disney
    Dog
    Dvd
    Education
    En Espanol
    Fall
    Food
    Gift Guides
    Giveaways
    Halloween
    Health
    Hipanicize
    Hollywood Bowl
    Ketogenic Diet
    Kids
    Knott's
    Legoland
    Lego Party
    Lent
    Los Angeles Zoo
    Mamavation
    Movies
    Music
    Muylatinas
    Muy Latinas Network
    Non Profit
    Non-profit
    Organic
    Organization
    Party Ideas
    Places
    Recetas
    Recipes
    Reviews
    Salud
    San Diego Zoo
    SeaWorld
    Six Flags
    Spanish
    Spring
    Summer Activities
    Theme Parks
    The Queen Mary
    Travel
    Tv
    Universal Studios
    Valentine's Day
    Ventura County
    Video Games
    Weight
    Where To Go
    Wordless Wednesday
    Wordless Wednesday

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    RSS Feed

    Visit monica's profile on Pinterest.
    The Network Niche
Copyright My life is a journey
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss/Healthy Living
  • Contact me
  • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • About me
    • Colombia
  • Network and other affiliations