Childhood Trauma — One of the Five Key Risk Factors for Addiction

by Lisa Frederiksen

“As we reckon with the consequences of 9/11 a full ten years on, the role of childhood trauma in addiction gains increasing scientific traction. Early life experience programs the brain and body for the environment it encounters: a calm, nurturing upbringing will orient a child to thrive in most conditions, while a stressful, barren one will predispose it to conditions of scarcity, anxiety and chaos. Not all stress is bad, however. Learning requires some stress, and coping with intermittent, mild doses builds the system up, like a muscle. Stress crosses into the hazard zone of trauma only when it comes in “doses” that are too large or too unpredictable or too sustained over which the person has little or no control. Paradoxically, early neglect—an absence of parenting—can be as traumatic as overt abuse.” Quoted from “ How to Create an Addict ,” written by Maia Szalavitz, a columnist at “ The Fix ,” appearing 9/25/11 on The Fix

To learn more about the risk factors AND the importance of what happens early in a child’s life, please read the following posts:

“ Secondhand Drinking/Drugging (SHDD): Understand It, Prevent It and We Can Go a Long Ways to Reducing Underage Drinking; Addiction ”

“ The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study .”