Scott Whisnant, New Hanover Regional Medical Center
A trendy subject these days is the discussion of “toxic stress” and “resiliency” through the study of “ACEs,” or Adverse Childhood Experiences. Twenty years after a groundbreaking study by Drs. Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda established this connection, most communities are grappling with what to do with the now-accepted fact that the awful things that happen to us in our childhood can cause disease and early death.
In New Hanover County, a group of us has aggressively taken on this project. The New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force has more than 200 members from just about every segment of the community, including schools, health providers, law enforcement, the courts, state and local government, social services, nonprofits, churches, nursing homes and even the county library.
The movement is catching on. And make no mistake. This is not some “touchy-feely” psycho-study designed to get us in touch with our feelings.
Toxic stress may be the most important discussion in public health at the moment. The lousy things children and even adults go through actually change us physiologically. They alter cell structure and hamper the brain’s ability
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