Scotland is one of the first countries to buy into the Adverse Childhood Experiences Movement wholesale and has highlighted this as a key public health concern. This can only be a good thing, right? Finally, we are waking up to the long-known devastating effect of adversity and trauma for individuals' lives, their place in society and their future wellbeing and prosperity. But does this broad-brush approach to public health miss the most crucial aspects, asks Matthias Schwannauer (University of Edinburgh), by quantifying misery and focusing on individuals and their brains rather than society and its context?
