Childhood trauma affects brain structure, the immune system, relationships, socioeconomic status,
From the impact on crime rates to personal and social solutions that increase resilience.
A masterpiece that compiles the latest research findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)!

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child abuse and neglect, family suicide, and parental alcoholism or mental illness, often make for sensational news, but academic research on them began in earnest in the 1990s.
Over the past several decades, a vast body of research has accumulated on how ACEs affect mental and physical health, socioeconomic status, and interpersonal relationships in adulthood. However, most of the relevant data is in English-language papers and is therefore not widely available to the general public.
Those who experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences were 2.2 times more likely to develop heart disease, 2.4 times more likely to develop stroke, 3.9 times more likely to develop chronic lung disease, 7.4 times more likely to develop alcohol dependence, 4.6 times more likely to develop depression, 3.2 times more likely to have had sex with more than 50 people, and 12.2 times more likely to attempt suicide. ACE survivors experience a lifetime of suffering as these negative experiences accumulate.
The gap in living environment of the family that is born by chance leads to multifaceted gaps throughout life.

Haruyo Mitani, an authority on welfare sociology and family sociology, describes the suffering of ACE survivors, which is not visible on the surface due to factors such as ethnicity or disability, as “the problem of a minority in a blind spot.”
The author wrote this book to compile and easily understand the academic achievements of the ACE Research, which studies the impact of childhood trauma on a child's entire lifespan. This book aims to provide the foundational knowledge for establishing prevention systems and social support systems to create a world where no one becomes a victim or perpetrator of ACEs and where ACE survivors can recover and live well.
ACE expert Kwak Young-sook, former president of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and current director of the National Center for Mental Health; youth policy researcher and teacher Kang Ji-na, author of “How Poor Children Become Adults,” and SisaIN reporter Jang Il-ho, author of the essay “A Visit of Sadness” as an ACE survivor, all strongly recommended this book as a book that is absolutely necessary for Korean society today.

The first thing A remembers is the feeling of being 'suffocated'.
A felt like she was struggling in the sea but couldn't breathe, and thought, 'Isn't this a memory of being abused when I was in my mother's womb?'

The feeling of being lifted into the air and then thrown to the floor, the shock, the disgust when your face is wiped with the rag that was used to clean the bathroom floor, the fear of being curled up under the blanket, not knowing when you will be punched or kicked... Memories from before you became wise still torment A.

---From "Entering"

Today, ACE research is spreading worldwide.
As of October 2022, a search for "Adverse Childhood Experiences" on the Web of Science database, which contains academic papers from around the world, yields over 2,500 papers.
Originating in epidemiology, the study of disease has spread to psychiatry, neuroscience, genetics, psychology, nursing, and social work.
Each research field is exploring various aspects of ACE, including its influence and mechanisms and countermeasures in clinical settings.

---From "Chapter 1 ACE Research and the Problems of the Modern Family"

ACE is a concept closely related to 'adult child' and 'toxic parent'.
But there is a clear difference.
The point is that ACE is an objective concept regardless of whether the person involved recognizes himself or herself as a 'victim'.
Rather than relying on the individual's judgment, the presence or absence of ACEs and whether a person is an ACE survivor is determined based on the individual's past experiences. ACEs are a concept that recognizes the problem of a child growing up in an extremely stressful environment and aims to objectively assess the long-term impact of such situations.
Rather than accepting these problems as 'actions and consequences' like 'child abuse and its trauma' and separating them into 'perpetrator/victim' and 'perpetrator/victim', the ACE study has its own uniqueness and value in that it focuses on the living environment.
---From “Chapter 2: Changes in Body and Mind”

When the human body is exposed to excessive stress for a long period of time and repeatedly in an environment, the epigenome traits change, the brain structure and function change, or the endocrine and immune systems become abnormal, causing physical and mental illness (biological mechanism).
Our bodies are controlled and harmonized by various structures, but the toxic stress caused by ACEs can disrupt this delicate bodily system and harm our health throughout our lives.

---From “Chapter 2: Changes in Body and Mind”

ACE survivors often experience difficulty keeping up in class, studying, feeling unexplained physically and having trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
Moreover, it has been pointed out that people who grow up in an ACE environment tend to view socially encouraged goals negatively and have low motivation to learn and work.
The will to tackle immediate challenges and the desire to pursue a better environment are the foundation for life's opportunities, but ACE survivors struggle to feel this motivation.

---From “Chapter 3: Impact on Socioeconomic Status”

As 'resilience' becomes more prominent, overcoming negative experiences is perceived as a 'personal responsibility'.
It is true that overcoming negative experiences requires the will of the person involved, but in reality, there are people who are in such a painful situation that they cannot even muster that will.
It is extremely cruel to blame someone who has accumulated negative experiences or disadvantages and lacks the strength or courage to change themselves, saying it is their own fault.

---From Chapter 5, ACE and Resilience

B, now fifty-six, is currently working as a doctor at a juvenile detention center.
Eighty percent of the boys said they had experienced abuse.
“I thought I could get a little closer to those kids because I’ve been abused myself,” she says. She says she now feels comfortable at work thanks to her supervisor, who is knowledgeable in psychiatry and psychology and well-versed in corrective medicine, and her colleagues, who she can have easy-going conversations with.

However, I have a drinking problem and attend regular meetings twice a month to help me quit drinking.
B says he still “lives wandering, unable to shake off the desire to go out to sea on a boat and drown.”
“If I am loved unconditionally, without having to give money, maybe I can tell myself, ‘It’s okay to be alive.’
But I still can't imagine that something like that would actually happen." B lives today with the driving force of the thought that 'I might die someday.'

---From "Chapter 6: Stories of ACE Survivors"

On days when he didn't go to school, Y was home alone or spent time with his siblings.
As I was walking home holding his hand, Y said to me, “Let’s play together at home until night falls.
He kept nagging me, saying, “Please.”
I couldn't help but hug the child as he looked so lonely.
It was comforting to know that there was a place just a few minutes from home where Y could stop by at any time, and that there were layers of adults around her who cared for her: adults from the children's cafeteria, community members, administrative staff, and school teachers.

What could I have done for Y, the girl who was the victim of the assault and the boy who was the perpetrator? Not directly involved in providing support, I'm overwhelmed by the pile of work and chores, struggling to even care for my own children... My sense of helplessness grows deeper by the day.

---From "Coming Out"