When It Comes to Living Beyond Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Help Is Where You Find It by Dr. John R. Blosnich
New California Surgeon General campaign highlights the simple and seemingly trivial things all around us that can make a huge difference in mental health.
By Dr. John R. Blosnich, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern California, and subject matter expert for the Live Beyond Campaign.
Emory Cowen was a psychologist who focused on prevention of mental health problems among youth who experienced stressful life events. Amidst a movement in the 1970s to forge community psychology and community mental health, Cowen called for expanding the ways society thought about how – and who – could help in promoting mental health. One of his studies, published more than 40 years ago, noticed the potential of “help is where you find it.” He examined the helping roles that informal groups in the community provided to people experiencing tough life challenges, perhaps a conversation with a hairstylist, or a kind ear from a barista. This work was not meant to negate the value and importance of clinical mental health care, rather it was intended to illustrate how opportunities to support mental health are all around us.
The message that support for mental health is close at hand – and with today’s apps perhaps in the palm of your hand– is more important now than ever before. As systems across the United States and here in California try to address shortages of mental health providers and to reduce other barriers to mental health care, California is investing in educational campaigns that educate people about tools that are available to everyone. The newly launched Live Beyond campaign is one such campaign providing online access to tools that might help Californians handle the effects of toxic stress.
The campaign addresses Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which can be major sources of toxic stress and create symptoms like low self-esteem, loss of the sense of safety in others, and inability to see opportunities in the world. To be clear, handling the symptoms of toxic stress may require help from a mental health professional, and they may also be significantly helped by activities that may seem too simple – things like exercising, talking to a friend, or getting enough sleep. And those are all interventions that don’t require an appointment, health insurance coverage, or transportation. When it comes to managing symptoms of toxic stress, conversations should look beyond “either or” to “both and”, remembering how individual mental health is connected to and supported by community mental health.
In my work over the last 15 years researching suicide risk and prevention, I have read Cowen’s work over and over, finding the simplicity of “help is where you find it” to be like a message in a bottle amid a sea of scientific writing. Help can be in a library, in the pages of a book, on a favorite hiking trail, in the depth of measured breathing, a favorite playlist, a jog, or painting. Science has been bearing this out. For example, several programs for military veterans managing symptoms of PTSD have seen positive results focusing on learning ceramic arts, sailing, working with horses (equine therapy), or woodworking. In some native communities hit hard by losses to suicide, survivors of loss delve into the cultural practice of making moccasins, sharing and processing pain while their hands craft. When we think broadly about healing, options appear. And options are good. Over the years, my work has shown me that very bad things happen when people think they have no options.
The Live Beyond campaign was developed for and by youth under the leadership of the Office of the California Surgeon General. Live Beyond focuses on raising awareness and understanding of ACEs, toxic stress, and their impacts while promoting strategies for young people to begin their healing journey. To show them that they do have options and the power to heal is within their reach.
During September we celebrate Suicide Prevention Week, a great time to learn about the warning signs of suicide and how to strengthen protective factors for suicide prevention with healthy coping strategies and feeling supported by family and friends. These protective factors align with the work in healing from the effects of ACEs and toxic stress. A long history of research shows that ACEs are strongly associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, but ACEs are not destiny. There are resources online and help is always one phone call or text away by dialing 9-8-8 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (24/7). Every day and all day, people who are feeling distressed can call, so can people who are worried about a loved one who is in distress. It is free of cost, and it is free of judgement.
We know the passing of even one second – perhaps a half-second – can create the space that disrupts a spiral, that reveals a detour in thoughts, that uncovers a grace glossed over in a growing fog of toxic stress. If you or someone you know has ever experienced a panic episode, I don’t need to explain how long one second can feel. This is precisely why I think the options in the Live Beyond campaign are so important. Seemingly trivial activities can become lifelines. After all, “trivial” cannot be spelled without the word “vital.” It’s in there. We just need to find it.
Dr. John R. Blosnich is an Associate Professor of Social Work Director of the at the Center for LGBTQ+ Health Equity at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. He also serves as a Subject Matter Expert for the Live Beyond Campaign which was launched by the Office of the California Surgeon General as a key part of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), a historic investment by the State of California that seeks to ensure all young people and families can find support for their emotional, mental, and behavioral health needs.
Learn more about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, and how to heal from their impacts at livebeyondCA.org.