The Roots of Addiction: Exploring Genetic Links and Beyond
Unraveling the Complexities of Addiction Causality
Why is it that some succumb to drug or alcohol addiction and others do not?
Well, we’ve known for a while that there’s a genetic link. But could something else be a significant contributor?
According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and confirmed by Kaiser Permanente – there is something else.
Childhood Trauma and Addiction: The Startling Connection
Dr. Vincent Felitti[i] discovered it, seeking to understand the leading causes of obesity. His discovery has subsequently been confirmed by Medical University of South Carolina researchers[ii] and others.
After questioning some 17,000 patients in California to understand whether they had gone through any of ten traumatic experiences that can happen to a child – from neglect to violence to rape, Felitti uncovered data he first thought was an error.
He found that a person who experienced any six or more of the ten classes of childhood trauma were 4,600 percent more likely to become an IV [injecting] drug user later in life than someone who experienced none of them.”
One might ask – how many children experience six or more childhood traumas?
The final research report showed that children who experienced even one of the categories of childhood trauma were two to four times more likely to grow up to be an addict – and multiple traumas produced an immense risk.
The results of this research raise some fundamental questions.
Addressing the Unseen Wounds: A Call for Compassionate Care
What if we had taken the $1 trillion spent on the failed U.S. drug war and spent it on helping abused children instead?
Each year in America, some 686,000 kids are reported as having been abused or neglected.
Some become addicts, then ostracized and abused further.
Shifting the Narrative: Understanding the Stories of Addiction
Perhaps it’s time to stop asking addicts what’s wrong with them and instead ask them what happened to them.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol and need help in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, or Indiana, the recovery teams at Aware Recovery Care are here to help. And we come to you, regardless of where you live. Our unique in-home treatment model of care gives clients a significantly better chance of recovery than traditional inpatient rehab care. Please get in touch with one of our Addiction Recovery Specialists to learn more.
[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6220625/
[ii] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00952990.2023.2171301?journalCode=iada20
