Video Transcript
Living in an environment where substance use is happening or mental illness—untreated mental illness—can definitely be considered an adverse childhood experience that can impact the way that children see the world, the way they interact with the world.
And if you’d like to know more about this particular topic, you can Google “adverse childhood experiences,” you can also Google “ACEs.” There are books on it that you can buy.
I think the important thing is recognizing that it’s different.
Many people experience this, and it’s different than it was.
I mean, I’m a 63-year-old therapist who also has a grandchild. And when I look at how I was raised versus how I’m raising my granddaughter, it’s totally different.
In the sixties, parents didn’t talk about adverse childhood experiences. They didn’t talk about opioid-exposed children. They didn’t talk about brain development. Nobody knew about that.
And so I think as a grandparent and kin today—especially if you’re in my age category—it’s important to know it’s a little different.
We know more. So how you respond to your children is gonna be really important.
The way I responded to my daughter is not the same way I respond to my granddaughter.
There is help out there for you to be able to respond differently. And we’ve talked about some of that already.
