Tagged With "disturbed sleep"
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Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
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TIC: News and Notes for the Week of October 21, 2019 [dhs.wisconsin.gov]
ACEs, Adversity's Impact There is only one boat: The myth of normalcy by Dr. Gabor Mate Understanding historical trauma to strengthen community Childhood trauma linked to early, premarital childbirth and poor health for women Early life racial discrimination linked to depression, accelerated aging When mothers are killed by their partners, children often become 'forgotten' victims. It's time they were given a voice Children's language skills may be harmed by social hardship Does racism...
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Tools and how to use them is focus of second webinar on Community Resiliency Model, May 14, 2020
The second of two free Community Resiliency (CRM) webinars with Elaine Miller-Karas , key creator of the CRM, will be held Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET, (10 a.m. CT; 9 a.m. MT, and 8 a.m. PT) and will include the practical application of tools of the model. CRM is an ACEs science-based biological model for helping individuals become emotionally regulated during natural disasters and other dysregulating times. Miller-Karas will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC:...
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When Hidden Grief Gets Triggered During COVID-19 Confinement
first published by The Meadows 4/15/20 Our sense of loss during the current COVID-19 crisis can trigger hidden emotions from when we experienced a sense of loss before. Whatever early losses you have had in your life — whether they be your own divorce, your parents, or both, or the abandonment of one parent, a childhood or parental illness or death, financial upheaval, constant moving around, or growing up with parental addiction or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — they are likely to...
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Announcing Trauma and Resilience Competencies for Nursing Education
The authors are pleased to announce the Trauma and Resilience Competencies for Nursing Education. These competencies serve as a guideline of minimal expectations and reflect essential knowledge, skills and behaviors for three levels of nursing education: 1) undergraduate, 2) graduate, and 3) psychiatric nurse practitioner programs. The Trauma and Resilience Competencies, developed in 2018 at the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut by an Expert...
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Association Between Objectively Measured Sleep Duration and Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders in Middle Childhood [jamanetwork.com]
By Bror M. Ranum, Lars Wichstrom, and Stale Pallesen, JAMA Network Open, December 27, 2019 Question: What is the long-term and bidirectional association between sleep duration and symptoms of psychiatric disorders in school-aged children? Findings: In this population-based cohort study of 799 Norwegian children participating in the Trondheim Early Secure Study, when all time-invariant confounders and baseline levels of study variables were accounted for, short sleep duration was...
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At the scene of a house fire, ACEs cast long shadows
I am on the scene of a house fire in a town near where I live in Brant, NY. As part of my duties as EMT with my fire company ambulance (I'm first assistant chief firefighter), I make sure firefighters who are working a fire stay healthy while they’re fighting it, especially firefighters with ACEs.
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Doulas & Covid-19: A toolkit for doulas (DONA International)
Please the attached toolkit for more information. From the toolkit: Best practices when working with clients Given how new this virus is, we currently have very little data on how it might affect pregnant people and newborns. Guidelines from the CDC outline recommendations for how to support pregnant and laboring people with Coronavirus. (3) There is currently no evidence that the virus is spread from mother to baby in utero, or that it is transmitted in human milk. (4)
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How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening? Early adopters tell all.
Last week, three pediatricians — with a combined experience of 15 years integrating ACEs science into their practices — reflected on the urgency they felt several years ago that prompted them to begin screening patients for childhood adversity and resilience when there was practically no guidance at all. Along their journey , they accumulated a list of lessons learned for other pediatricians and family clinics to use. The three pediatricians participated in the ACEs Connection webinar,...
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`I'm never going to be the same': Medics grapple with mental trauma on COVID-19 front line (msn.com)
Anne Messman, a veteran emergency room physician in Detroit, knew something was wrong when she developed insomnia and became unusually irritated with people she loved. Messman and thousands of other healthcare workers across the United States are grappling with psychological traumas that mental health professionals say are more commonly associated with soldiers returning home from far-flung battlefields. The unrelenting horror of COVID-19 has exacted a toll on healthcare workers who have...
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ACEs Research Corner — May 2020
[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site -- abuseresearch.info -- that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she's posting the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! -- Jane Stevens] Williams AB, Smith ER, Trujillo MA, et. al. Common health problems in safety-net primary care: Modeling the roles of trauma history and mental health. J Clin...
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Psychological Trauma Is the Next Crisis for Coronavirus Health Workers [Scientific American]
After his roughest days in a New York City emergency room, physician Matthew Bai feels his whole body relax when he sees his wife and 17-month-old daughter. “My light at the end of the tunnel is going home to family,” Bai says. When Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital started to overflow with COVID-19 patients in late March, however, Bai and his wife decided she should take their toddler and stay with her parents in New Jersey. The risk of spreading the virus to his family was too great. Now...
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New Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance have co-created a newly developed resource, “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe...
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To solve the Black maternal mortality crisis, start with upending racist practices
It’s been all over the news for months: Black women in the United States are dying from complications during their pregnancies or in childbirth at alarming rates, and those deaths are preventable. Less well explored is how systemic racism and historical trauma have been at the core of what’s driven up these rates over several decades. A March 20 conference entitled The Impact of ACEs on Black Maternal Health took an in-depth look into why Black maternal mortality and complications during...
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Criticizing ACEs in Peer Reviewed Professional Journals Impairs Child Abuse Treatment
Criticizing ACEs in Peer Reviewed Professional Journals Impairs Child Abuse Treatment Jeoffry B. Gordon, MD, MPH May 23, 2021 As a family doc practicing in San Diego I was privileged to hear Dr. Vincent Felitti talk about his inspired development of the ACEs questionnaire and its association with many adult mental and physical diseases directly from him only a few years after his original insight. Yet, although I had a lively clinic and learned how to manage a vast array of medical...
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ACEs, Sugar Addiction, and Weight Gain by Dr. Felitti & Dr. Alman
In many cases, sugar addiction (just like other forms of addiction) can be linked to ACEs. When adverse childhood experiences go unresolved, sugar is easily accessible and can provide a temporary pressure relief valve from toxic stress. Sometimes, this way of coping is unconscious because the sugar-eating habits are reinforced by the brain’s altered hardwiring that craves that next dopamine hit. Then, there's the weight gain...
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Nourishing a Brain Wounded by Childhood Adversity
The right mix of nutrients revitalizes the brain that's been wounded by ACEs. Good nutrition can quickly improve mood and functioning in the present, while improving the potential to rewire disturbing memories imprinted in childhood.
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PACEs Champion Dr. Lourdes Valdez uses Reach Out and Read as one way to integrate practices based on PACEs science
Our interview for this profile took place over two continents, from the U.S. to Lima, Peru, where Lourdes Valdez, pediatrician in Butte County, California, for 23 years, was attending to family affairs after the death of her mother. Valdez grew up in Lima, and later earned her medical degree in Peru before moving to Iowa City, Iowa, in 1992 for her residency. She said her mother helped make her a resilient person. Although working full time as an economist and statistician, her mother made a...
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Adverse Childhood Experiences, the Brain, and Exercise: How exercise strengthens the brain wounded by toxic childhood stress
Even small amounts of exercise can quickly and dramatically improve mood, brain health, brain function, and the ability to cope with stress, while preparing the brain to rewire the hidden wounds from childhood.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences, the Brain, and Sleep
Sufficient, good quality sleep strengthens the brain wounded by ACEs in many ways. Intelligent sleep strategies improve mood, brain (and medical) health, brain function, and the capacity to rewire negative neural pathways imprinted in childhood.
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Nightmares and ACEs: They No Longer Need Rule the Night
Recurring nightmares lead to much needless suffering for survivors of adverse childhood experiences—suffering that goes well beyond disturbed sleep. Five steps help take back the night.
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ACEs and the Resilient Brain
Beyond the main pillars of sleep, exercise, and nutrition, these six practices optimize brain health and functioning in the present, while preparing the brain to adaptively rewire the hidden wounds from toxic childhood stress.
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Underground Shame from Adverse Childhood Experiences: Understanding Prepares the Heart to Heal
New understanding of the brain provides hope for breaking the painful grip of shame that’s imprinted in childhood and continues to affect adults. Rewiring shame calls for more than the traditional left brain approaches.
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7 of the Most Outrageous Medical Treatments in History (history.com)
Advertisement for Cocaine Toothache Drops,1890. Courtesy National Library of Medicine. (Credit: Smith Collection/Getty Images). Author: Brynn Holland's article, please click here. Why were parents giving their children heroin in the 1880s? 2. Cocaine—The Wonder Drug Around the mid 1880s, scientists were able to isolate the active ingredient of the coca leaf, Erythroxylon coca (later known as cocaine). Pharmaceutical companies loved this new, fast-acting and relatively-inexpensive stimulant.
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💗 Get A FREE Copy of My NEW Book - It's Not About Food, Drugs, or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD
Hi Everyone! The good news is after seven years, with a five year break (AKA stall-out), I have finally finished my new book and have titled it: It's Not About Food, Drugs, or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD Although my book won't be available to the general public until its launch date on Feb 21 st , 2023, I am offering FREE advance reader copies to a limited amount of people this week. Below is a summary of what my book's about and how to qualify to get a free copy this week.
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A Promising Treatment for Hidden Wounds from ACEs
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is an emerging trauma therapy for the hidden wounds resulting from Adverse Childhood Experiences. Research to date shows ART for traumatized adults is quick, effective, safe, and well-tolerated. Consistent with new understanding of the brain and body-centered treatment approaches, ART primarily targets trauma images and associated physical and emotional sensations, creatively and efficiently using eye movements and strategies from other trauma treatments.
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Teen Girls Are Not Alright. ADHD Magnifies the Crisis. (additudemag.com)
To read more of Nicole Kear's article, please click here. Teen girls in the U.S. are “engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma,” according to a report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found alarming increases in rates of rape, depression, suicidality, and cyberbullying among adolescents. 1 “The numbers are unprecedented,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health . “Our young people...
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With nowhere else to go, kids needing foster care sleep on the floor in county offices (northcarolinahealthnews.org)
Photo Credit: Walt Stoneburner, Flickr Creative Commons By Michelle Crouch, The Charlotte Ledger, July 5, 2023 -- With foster homes in short supply, more than 55 children over the past year have spent at least one night sleeping on an air mattress in a Mecklenburg government conference room; “It’s as bad as it’s ever been.” Dozens of children have been forced to sleep on the floor of Mecklenburg County offices over the past year because of a severe shortage of foster homes and crisis beds,...
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Patient Compliance vs. Adherence: Advancing the Health Equity Mandate
Use of the term “compliance” instead of “adherence” by healthcare regulatory entities and organizations, plus practitioners, health systems and their and employees condones the blaming of patients for poor outcomes. It’s time to change this practice!
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Keys to Calming Anxiety from Adverse Childhood Experiences
Anxiety rooted in the hidden wounds from childhood need not be a lifelong sentence. A combination of effective strategies offer hope and help to alleviate anxious conditions, including excessive worry and panic attacks, that originate in childhood.
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Does Worry (Tied to ACEs) Keep You Up at Night?
Worry rooted in adverse childhood experiences can rob you of energy and joy, and cause a variety of anxiety symptoms. This post explains the ACEs/worry connection and the principles for managing worry.
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Trauma-Informed Competency Set for Undergraduate Medical Education
The National Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Health Care, Education and Research (TIHCER) presents: Trauma-Informed Competency Set for Undergraduate Medical Education Trauma is nearly universal and a root cause of numerous health and social problems, including 6 of the 10 leading causes of death. Research has substantiated the profound impact of trauma on the brain and body - and why trauma training is critical to the education and practice of health professionals. Yet a critical lag...
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Trauma-Informed Competency Set for Undergraduate Medical Education
The National Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Health Care, Education and Research (TIHCER) presents: Trauma-Informed Competency Set for Undergraduate Medical Education Trauma is nearly universal and a root cause of numerous health and social problems, including 6 of the 10 leading causes of death. Research has substantiated the profound impact of trauma on the brain and body - and why trauma training is critical to the education and practice of health professionals. Yet a critical lag...
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Vital Self-Care for Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery
Often overlooked, intelligent self-care is vital during and after the recovery process. Tending to important needs optimizes mood, mental health, and the ability to handle everyday stress. These keys say, "I matter," and sustain you in your recovery journey.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Agony of Perfectionism: A Better Way to Achieve Your Goals
The rigid pursuit of perfection poses a high risk to health and performance. A kinder, more flexible approach to pursuing high standards leads to better health and performance. Perfectionism, which is motivated by fear and self-doubt, is often rooted in adverse childhood experiences.