Mental Health Illness is a global public health problem affecting around 1 in 8 (970 million people) (World Health Organisation, 2022). Although the connection between mental ill health and trauma is more known, it is still limited, and so are the supporting services.

The charity Mind's report of 2000 adult patients with Mental Health Illness (2014) showed current approaches are limiting. 50% of individuals who had received talk therapy for depression were unhappy with the number of sessions provided, and 37% were not offered alternative treatments.

Many services support recovery through cognitive approaches (talk therapy/CBT). However, this does not support an individual's understanding of their body's importance within recovery processes. Therefore, this prevents them from adjusting and engaging with their environments in healthy and fulfilling ways.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events happening to someone between 0-17 years. Almost ½ of adults (48%) have experienced at least 1 ACE, and 10% have experienced 4 or more. ACEs can include but are not limited to:

- experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect

- witnessing violence in the home or community

- having a family member attempt or die by suicide

Or growing up in a household or environment with:

- substance misuse

- mental ill health

- parental separation

- Incarceration

- marginalisation and discrimination

- homelessness

The impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can affect someone in lots of different ways you may not realise. Someone who has experienced 4 or more ACEs can be:

- 2x more likely to drink heavily and have a poor diet, and/or have liver disease

- 3x more likely to smoke and/or have lung disease

- 4x more likely to have depression and anxiety

- 5x more likely to have underage sex

- 6x more likely to have an unplanned teenage pregnancy

- 7x more likely to be involved in violence

- 11x more likely to misuse drugs

- 11x more likely to be incarcerated

Did you know you have a nervous system which helps you respond to your environment? When you feel threatened, it switches to a FIGHT, FLIGHT, and FREEZE mode. In this mode, a part of your brain, right at the front, called the Frontal Cortex, is limited. This part of the brain is essential for things like thinking and reflection.

When you have experienced environments which have ‘trained’ your body to be in this mode a lot, it takes TIME, lots of PRACTISE, and a compassionate environment to adjust it to recognise it is safe. When activated, your body can cause feelings like anxiety, depression, dissociation, or aggression. You can also find yourself using other techniques (e.g., people pleasing, coercion) learnt to keep us safe and navigate the challenges in our environments.

This is why it is vital to engage with a range of recovery approaches which can engage MIND and BODY. Your body responses are unique to how you think, feel, and behave. In this way, the mind and body are not separate but operate together.

Project Becomings offers a way to bring research and creative practices together to explore and extend recovery narratives.

Sources:

Bellis MA, Hughes K, Leckenby N, Perkins C and Lowey H. (2014) ‘National household survey of adverse childhood experiences and their relationship with resilience to health-harming behaviors in England’ BMC Medicine 2:72.

Connelly, Dawn. 2021. In figures: The science of stress. Retrieved from: https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/feature/in-figures-the-science-of-stress#main-content

Hughes, K., Lowey, H., Quigg, Z. a Bellis, M. A. (2016) ‘Relationships between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental well-being: results from an English national household survey’ BMC Public Health 16:222.

Mind. (2014). Commissioning talking therapies to meet need: A briefing from the ‘we need to talk coalition’. https://www.mind.org.uk/media/1748954/we-need-to-talk_briefing-for-commissioners.pdf

SFCCC. (2019) Adverse Childhood Experiences. Retrieved:https://www.sfccc.org/blog/2019/11/13/adverse-childhood-experiences

Williamson, D. (n.d.) What you need to know about our autonomic nervous system and stress. Retrieved from: https://dariawilliamson.com/autonomic-nervous-system-and-stress/

World Health Organisation. (2022). Mental disorders. World Health Organisation. Retrieved 22/01 from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders