Danielle Ratcliff, the CEO of Reach for Tomorrow in Greenfield, spoke about the effects of childhood trauma during a meeting of the Highland County Prevention and Recovery Coalition on Wednesday, July 24.
“It’s important to understand trauma and how it impacts the brain and how to engage with people that have gone through childhood trauma and how substance use is one of the symptoms of PTSD – one of the behaviors of PTSD when you’ve gone through trauma,” she said.
She said the trauma can include physical, emotional or sexual abuse. She said it can also be in the form of physical or emotional neglect or household dysfunction caused by mental illness, an incarcerated relative, substance abuse, divorce or violence.
Ratcliff provided information from a study by STARR Commonwealth about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The study reported that 33 percent of the people in a survey reported no ACEs, 51 percent reported having one to three ACEs and 16 percent reported four to 10 ACEs.
Those who reported more ACEs were far more likely to smoke, be alcoholic or use drugs. Those who reported more ACEs were also more likely to have heart disease or attempt suicide.
Ratcliff said trauma can be defined as any experience that leaves a person feeling hopeless, helpless, fearing for their life, or their safety, and the experience can be real or perceived. She said the general reaction to trauma is terror.
According to Ratcliff, both the right side of the brain, responsible for sensory functions, and the left side of the brain, responsible for thinking functions are affected by trauma. She said the first thing that happens is that the left and right brain don’t integrate and work together, and there is no cooperation between the two hemispheres.
“Because of what happens in the brain when someone has gone through trauma, you really need to engage on the right side of the brain really sensory-wise and things like that and not just talk therapy because of what happens in the brain,” Ratcliff said.
Ratcliff discussed the prevalence of childhood trauma in the results of a survey of 237 students in four Highland County Schools from 2018.
Sixty percent of the students surveyed reported they had been involved in a transportation accident involving a car, boat, train or plane.
Fifty percent reported having parents who were separated or divorced.
Thirty percent of the students reported they had been exposed to a parent or caregiver using an illegal substance.
Twenty-eight percent of the students reported they have been exposed to a parent or caregiver with an addiction to alcohol.
Ten percent of the students reported having been assaulted with a weapon, and 11 percent reported being victims of sexual assault.
Seventeen percent of the students reported they had taken an illegal substance in the last 30 days.
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
