Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal

I consider Donna Nakazawa’s book very important for people who have suffered abusive childhoods. Her book focuses mostly on physical health issues (immune disorders, etc.) resulting from stress that has its roots in childhood abuse or traumas that resulted from circumstances that didn’t involve abuse. My personal interest in the book (apart from theoretical interests) is due to my having suffered from severe emotional abuse in childhood. The particular impacts of this abuse (albeit by well-meaning parents) for me were principally psychological in nature. Although experiencing high blood pressure in middle age was, almost certainly, due to intense emotional stresses that had their roots in my childhood. Nakazawa argues persuasively that people with high ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores are at much greater risk of certain kinds of physical illnesses – especially autoimmune disorders – than are people whose ACE scores are low. She also points out that many doctors and other medical professionals are oblivious to the fact that many of the physical health issues they encounter in their patients are, in fact, caused by severe stresses as a consequence of childhood traumas. The medical professions seem to be woefully unaware of the powerful psychosomatic (mind-body) impacts that can result from psychological stressors. Therefore, many patients with severe autoimmune disorders are routinely misdiagnosed by doctors who lack sufficient awareness that a patient’s childhood experiences can gravely impact adult health issues. As a nonprofessional, it appears to me that, in general, much of Western medical science is due for a makeover, if not a downright revolution. In Western science, there is a serious deficiency in an understanding of the powers of the human mind. By and large, the mind is regarded as NON-EXISTENT – a merely mysterious by-product of physical brain functions. Since the brain is physical, and given the philosophical supposition that the mind consists of brain processes, the powers of the mind are absurdly underrated, marginalized, and often discounted as, in analytical fact, NON-EXISTENT. Notwithstanding Western sciences’ brilliant successes in “mastering” material entities, its stubborn refusal to acknowledge the viability and powers of the mind simply means that, in certain respects, Western science and philosophy have foundered at the point where Democritus (with his “atoms and the void”) left them in ancient Greece (some 24 centuries ago). My point is not to argue that, regarding matter and the material world, science has not progressed, because it obviously has been brilliantly advanced. However, from the perspective of the mind-body problem, science and philosophy are largely stuck – regardless of how much some neuroscientists might believe that we’re on the verge of a breakthrough, whereby the “consciousness problem” is scientifically solved. The fact is that Western science will have to undergo a revolution (greater than the Copernican revolution) if it will ever make meaningful inroads into the glories of the mind. My digression into philosophy and science is intimately related to this book review. Nakazawa repeatedly decries the grave inadequacies in our medical professions regarding the crying need to grant due importance to how the mind, when it suffers dysfunctions, can DESTROY the body. To underrate that importance is a seriously damaging error of which most Westernized medical science is guilty. Donna Nakazawa’s book shines the spotlight on medical science’s neglect. Although my personal interest in this book was principally a desire to learn how better to tackle my psychological problems from childhood abuse, I found this book to be highly informative, enlightening, and worthy of high marks. After all, the book shines a light where much of Western medical science fears to tread.

If as a child you have ever suffered physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, divorce, hunger, bullying, or lived with family members who were suicidal, imprisoned, mentally ill, from a dysfunctional family, or abused drugs, then this book is a must read. Your health depends on it. Donna Nakazawa unpacks one of the greatest discoveries in modern psychology and medicine today, the groundbreaking study on Adverse Childhood Experiences by medical doctor Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda. If you have experienced any of the 10 ACE's above, then your health is already at risk. I have personally experienced 8 out of 10 ACE's and thus identified with everything in this book. I have suffered from chronic headaches, chronic fatigue, heart disease, BPH, gynecomastia, and bilirubin, resulting from trauma. I was on Amitriptyline, Venlafaxine, Tizanidine, Lipitor, Hydrocodone, and NSAID's for years, and nothing helped until I began EMDR therapy for trauma as described in this book. The headaches and illnesses are largely gone. Through scientific research, Nakazawa demonstrates how our genes are changed based on our childhood trauma, known as epigenetic imprinting and methylation. The result is an inflammation of the organs through cortisol and cytokines, leading to inevitable illnesses in our adulthood. The science is virtually incontrovertible, and the research is extensive. Each chapter illustrates this process with real life stories that grip the heart yet give hope. If you've suffered childhood trauma, then you will certainly identify with the research and stories here. This is a profound and enlightening book. The last three chapters give cutting-edge information on how to begin a pathway towards recovery, from personal to professional approaches. This is one of the best books I have ever read on childhood trauma (see also The Body Keeps the Score by Van Der Kolk). It is very well written and researched. I highly recommend it.

Great book. It explains how experiences in your childhood can affect your life in later years. Real eye opener.

This is written with enough clarity for the 'average layman' to get a good understanding of childhood trauma and how it impacts later adulthood. I deducted one star because, from a Christian standpoint, I didn't like the meditation aspect. Obviously counseling may be needed, and it would have to be very specialized which may not be available to many people, especially in rural areas. But for the most part it did give good information on how to proceed once you had answers to your "feeling stuck" and how to move forward and heal.

A must read for trauma sufferers that brings answers.

Having read ‘The Last Best Cure’ by the same author, I was very excited to hear she was writing a book specifically about adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and pre-ordered my copy weeks before it was due to be published. It did not disappoint and is packed full of the evidence demonstrating the very strong link between children who experience adverse childhood experiences and poor health in adulthood. Much of this research was done decades ago, yet until recently has, like so many other studies which could in fact have a massively positive response on the health of our nations, remained unnoticed until recently. Donna brings it all together in her very engaging style and demonstrates clearly how and why there is such a link between even mild, but ongoing, stress/trauma in childhood and ill health in later life. She even explains why women are more likely to end up with conditions such as autoimmune disorders as a result of ACEs. My own work is focused on helping people recover from persistent pain/conditions, which are frequently a result of adverse childhood experiences, so this book is one I will be recommending widely and in fact already have. Donna paints the picture so well about how physical and mental health problems result from ACEs, but rather than being a depressing read, she also clearly explains how these conditions can be reversed. As she says, ‘Biology doesn’t have to be our destiny. We can recover function (as she did herself) in under-connected areas of our brain.’ She also goes on to write about some of the many therapies and self-empowering strategies that people can utilise to help them recover. I really feel this is a very important book, not just to help those people currently suffering from conditions that have resulted from ACEs, but also to raise awareness of the need to focus on the young and aim to reduce the ACEs that so many children experience. This In turn could have a huge impact on the cost of healthcare in the western world for future generations.

Libro consigliato da uno psicologo americano specializzato in ADHD; ho apprezzato moltissimo il libro per la sua accessibilità nello stile comunicativo, per i contenuti scientifici tracciabili e perchè permette di ricostruire una comprensione più ampia ed integrata delle conseguenze dei traumi e degli abusi psicologici subiti da bambini, che di fatto trovano espressione in forti e gravi sintomatizzazioni. Vale la pena la lettura.

This is a well written, easy to read book that carefully details the consequences of childhood trauma. A must for anyone working with children, or people who are on a personal healing journey.

Brilliant for those who struggled with a difficult childhood. This book is especially good if you are in the healing professions