The research conducted in the medical field in recent years have highlighted that particularly difficult life events, such as abuse or emotional traumalived in childhood, have a very strong impact on the onset of chronic diseases, lifestyle and behavior of people.
Already Freud hypothesized that at the basis of some behaviors implemented by some patients, an underlying medical pathology could not be observed, but there were early traumatic events.
This idea has found support in recent years from one of the most important American epidemiological studies that involved more than 17,000 participants. It is the ACE STUDIO – Adverse Childhood Experienceborn from the studies of V. Felitti to the department of preventive medicine of San Diego in the 1980s.
The idea of this study was born following the results obtained by an intervention program against obesity, when doctors observed that the highest rate of abandonment of the program was found unexpectedly among the people for whom this treatment was successful in weight loss.
Hence the most in -depth investigation on the reason for a so much counterintuitive result and the emergence, from the testimonies of the patients, who many of them used in an unaware way obesity as a way to defend themselves from sexual attention or as a defense against possible physical aggressions, and many of them had in their own childhood history episodes of abuses or attacks.
So it was understood that what was seen as the problem (obesity) was actually a secondary problem It is an unconscious way to solve other previous problems less evident through “compensatory” behaviors.
From here, dozens of studies have been conducted to date on problems concerning both medicine and psychology such as drug addictions, smoking, violent behavior and risk, chronic diseases and psychological disorders.
For Adverse Childhood Experience We mean experiences lived within the family context before 18 years such as: recurrent physical abuse, recurring psychological abuse, sexual abuse, presence of a person dependent on alcohol or substances in the family context, presence of a person with a serious psychological problem, physical neglect, emotional neglect.
The results highlighted how an unexpectedly high number of patients who came to the medicine departments had had significant adverse experiences; For this reason, a simple calculation method has been created that attributes a score relating to the accumulation of these experiences in the life of the person before the age of 18, so that this score is used to evaluate the weight of exposure to traumatic events And therefore the increased probability of risk of developing medical and psychological pathologies (the ACE study also provides a link to which you can access to calculate your score).
In fact, in many cases certain behaviors that are considered “the” problem, are implemented to relieve emotional and/or social discomfort and continue because they work as a short -term solution of the malaise, a way to calm down and regulate emotions, even if they have a long -term deleterious effect.
Today neurobiology has shown us how an intense fear experienced in childhood can alter neurological development and alter the normal structure and functions of the brain.
The baby’s brain is particularly vulnerable to stress and some vision events can have a cumulative impact on brain and nervous system, bringing a possible increased risk of physical health problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, reduced immune functions, hypertension, etc.).
The results of the study then lead to further reflection for clinical practice. Many of these problems are not investigated and therefore remain unrecognized and the risk of current clinical practices may be to spend a lot of money without take care of the real cause of the problem.
It is necessary to consider the possibility of acting on the real causes that can be behind the symptoms or attempts to solve precise problems.
Of course, this poses many integration problems with the medical practices currently adopted, but it can be an important recognition so that people can take care of themselves based on a global biopsychosocial approach, which can have many positive repercussions on several levels.
