Adverse Childhood Experiences: Initiation Into Thug Life

Topic: how ace's affect the well-being of the future

How Narcissistic Parents Contribute to ACES

Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Components of ACE's

Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACE’s are traumatic events experienced during childhood that have a direct correlation to the onset of mental illness and chronic disease in adulthood. In total there are 10 ACE’s that the study uses to gage the likeness of these conditions along with incarceration and social problems.

 

There are three types of abuse along with five types of family dysfunctions that make up the ACE’s Assessment.

 

The three types of abuse are sexual, physical, and verbal. The five family dysfunctions consist of a  parent with a mental illness or substance abuse problem, a parent who is a domestic violence victim, incarcerated family member, and the loss of a parent through divorce or abandonment

 

The ACE’s study indicates that there is a direct link between a child being diagnosed with a mental illness or mental health disorder as an adult from experiencing any one of the ACE’s.  If that child has experienced four or more of these traumatic events the risk of that child being diagnosed with a mental illness or mental health disorder as an adult increases drastically.

 

“The Hate U Give Little Infants F^#&$ Everybody. THUG LIFE”~ Tupac Shakur

 

Early Onset Abuse

According to Psychology Today article, children who grow up in households riddled with physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, neglect, and verbal abuse have a higher probability of being diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder as adults. There is no one specific diagnosis of a mental illness or mental disorder associated with child abuse, but the one mental health illness that is associated to the vast majority of most mental disorders is depression.  Research such as The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study aligns with this article’s findings.

 

 

Thug Life, The Hate U Give Little Infants F&%^$ Everybody

When Tupac Shakur came on the scene reclaiming the word thug through his music, his poetry, and lifestyle -he made being a thug relatable and glamorous to the vast majority of his fans. Being a thug wasn’t about robbing, stealing and killing but about overcoming life’s hardships and the obstacles that come along with those hardships.   

 

“I don’t consider myself to be straight militant. I’m a thug, and my definition of thug comes from half of the street element and half of the Panther element, half of the independence movement. Saying we want self-determination. We want to do it by self-defense and by any means necessary. That came from my family and that’s what thug life is. It’s a mixture.”

 

Just as the pure essence of parenting is often characterized as  “figuring it out”, the same applies when you come from the childhood a lot of black Americans come from. When you aren’t modeled healthy relationships, healthy behaviors, healthy emotional regulation, career readiness, household management, or proper parenting skills; all things that are necessary for a productive life- you have to figure it out the best way you know-how. You figure it out by living. There is no hardcopy manual so your survival becomes your manual. You learn to  “Get It How You Live.”


The Ambition of a thug

The moment you are born black, in poverty, in America, you are living within the confinements of a system of hardships that aren’t conducive to your survival, let alone prosperity. If that wasn’t enough to almost guarantee you to not have a fighting chance, add abuse to the hardships you are forced to overcome. Then, add abuse at the hands of people who didn’t buy or trade you but who seeded and birthed you. 

 

We all have witnessed how a society can get out of control when a group of people who are being oppressed aren’t being heard. 

Why would an individual’s response to pain be any different?

#ComingFromWhereImFrom you are living a Thug Life if you come from or have experienced any, but not limited to, any of the events below:

 

You are living a Thug Life not because you come from or experienced any of these traumatic events. You are living a Thug Life because you have survived these traumatic events.

 

 

To overcome any form of abuse you are enmeshed with a spirit of resilience and determination. An attitude that you will be more than, and make something happen out of nothing in spite of what the cards of life have dealt you. 

Started from the bottom, now we here.” ~Drake

 

 

Thug Therapy aims to bring you relatable content aimed to awaken awareness about mental health and spark conversations about mental health in the black community.The contents of Thug Therapy Lifestyle Blog website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained on the Thug Therapy Lifestyle Blog website (“content”) are for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Thug Therapy Lifestyle Blog website. The one thing we have learned in our journey to wellness and wholeness is just as we all are different, so will our treatment plans. Thug Therapy Lifestyle Blog is meant to provide a peek into the reality of someone living with depression.

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