I think what…affected me for my adult life that happened in my childhood was more the everyday
When actress Charlize Theron was 15, her mother shot and killed her abusive alcoholic father. But what affected her most was living daily under the strain of both these adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
The ten ACEs identifies in the groundbreaking Adverse Childhood Experiences study include: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, having a mentally ill parent, incarceration of a parent, alcohol or drug abuse by a parent, divorce, and CDV. The number of ACEs a child experiences in childhood is their ACE score and the higher their ACE score, the poorer their long-term outcomes are expected to be.
Charlize faced both alcoholism and CDV, so her ACE score was at least a two. She is not alone. Most who grow up with one ACE like Childhood Domestic Violence (CDV) face at least 2 or more, because ACEs tend to co-occur. And a majority who grow up with CDV face 5 or more at the same time.
Read more about her experience & the impact of childhood adversity here.
Source: Refinery29