Adverse childhood experiences—like abuse, neglect, parental addiction, mental illness, and divorce—can have lasting effects on human health. But the stunning news of Nadine Burke Harris’s research is how, and how deeply, our bodies can be changed, imprinted for life by these ACEs. From stress responses to growth rates to diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and more, we are all a product of our childhood environments.
Through powerful storytelling and fascinating scientific insight, Burke Harris illuminates her journey of discovery, from research labs nationwide to her own pediatric practice in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. For anyone who has faced a difficult childhood, or who cares about the millions of children who do, the innovative and acclaimed health interventions outlined in The Deepest Well represent vitally important hope for preventing lifelong illness for those we love and for generations to come.
