The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity—A Transformative Guide to Understanding Childhood Trauma and Health

by Nadine Burke Harris

toxic stress is an unseen epidemic affecting every single community. Since the original ACE Study was published, thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have collected population ACE data. Those reporting their data show that between 55 and 62 percent of the population have experienced at least one category of ACE, and between 13 and 17 percent of the population have an ACE score of four or more. The states with the highest rates of ACEs among young children were Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. Left unchecked, the effects of ACEs and the toxic stress they create were being handed down by well-meaning parents in families all across the country and, undoubtedly, around the world.