Adults Abused as Children Chronic, Severe and Terminal Illness Trauma, Loss and Grief Research indicates a powerful relationship between our emotional experiences as children and our physical and mental health as adults, as well as the major causes of adult mortality. It documents the conversion of traumatic emotional experiences into organic disease later in life. Adult survivors of childhood maltreatment who appear to be healthy are twice as likely to show clinically relevant levels of inflammation known to predict the development of conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.[King’s College Study led by Dr. Andrea Danese in London.]