Chronic pain and childhood trauma

Recently a journalist colleague of mine put out a call for quotes from those who suffer from severe premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysmorphic disorder (more commonly known as PMS and PMDD, respectively) who also suffered a history of childhood abuse. Her interest was piqued by a 2014 peer reviewed article that appeared in the Journal of Women’s Health linking the disorders with early onset abuse. I answered the call, having both PMS and PMDD, as well as a history of child abuse by both my stepfather and my mother. Yet despite having both a history of abuse and several diagnoses that contribute to chronic pain, it’s only been in the past few years that I’ve become aware of the connection between the two. It wasn’t until I started writing a collection of personal essays about my youth, and researching scientific literature about childhoods like mine, that I stumbled upon the now-famous 1998 ACE study, which explored “adverse childhood experiences.” Specifically, the study surveyed 17,000 middle-income adults who had health data stretching back to their early childhoods. The ACE research indicated that the more adversities an individual experienced as a child — whether poverty, parental death or incarceration, neighborhood violence, or abuse — the more likely that person would suffer from serious physiological disorders as an adult. Understanding the connection While the causality between childhood adversity and adult chronic illness has yet to be fully d...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Behavioral Health Children's Health Mental Health Mind body medicine Pain Management Source Type: blogs