Eve was 5.5 when her parents experienced a bitter divorce. Soon after, her young uncle was murdered execution-style due to strong familial mafia ties. She feared her own life because the mafia was now hunting her, yet neither parent protected her.
Every evening as the sunset, Eve’s young desperate heart began to panic. She was familiar with her heart and knew it would settle if she curled in a ball hidden in her mom’s closet. There, she felt the mean mafia men wouldn’t find her, but still, she shivered. “If only my mom or dad would keep me safe,” her brain thought.
But they didn’t.
Instead, her mom continuously criticized Eve, and her dad was far away – remarried to a woman who despised young Eve. Her mom was physically and emotionally abusive and neglectful, and many close family members suffered mental health disorders, were in jail, or were addicted to drugs and alcohol.
As Eve’s young body grew and developed, so did her brain. Her life experiences negatively affected her brain. Her trauma and abuse soon turned to low self-esteem, self-harm, depression, eating disorders, poor impulse control, and low grades.
Eve went off to college at age 17 to escape, yet still struggled and felt a growing sense of anxiety and isolation. She needed help. She wanted answers.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Eve studied psychology at university and discovered the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scale, a research-based tool allowing a person to better understand how their adverse life experiences have shaped the brain.
The higher a person’s ACE score, the more likely it is that a person will suffer from PTSD, mood and personality disorders, anxiety, heart disease, and depression, to name a few.
But Eve also thought about her friends who have low ACE scores, yet still suffer from anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression. She learned that even just one negative experience could shape the brain and create dysfunctional thoughts.
Eve and most of her friends suffer. What do they all have in common? They all have a brain that childhood experiences helped shape. And, they all have the power to change their brain through techniques such as mindfulness and cognitive restructuring. Let’s get started with mindfulness!