Originally Posted by nomis

Study after study has shown a massive link between addiction and childhood trauma. A land-breaking report, called the ACE study was undertaken in the early 2000's I believe. Anybody who has been affected by addiction should be familiar with it. The results have revolutionized the way experts look at addiction.

What it found was, that from of a group of 17,000 mature adults, the likelihood of someone developing addiction later in life was directly correlated to, what was termed, adverse childhood experiences, or childhood trauma. The more intense the trauma, the greater the risk factor. So for example, someone who had expeirenced multiple traumatic events in their childhood (substance abuse in their family, loss of a parent, break-up of the family, physical or sexual abuse, etc) was 4,600 times more likely in that study, to develop an intravenous drug addiction later in life compared to somebody who had experienced none of the ACE's listed.

What was so conclusive about the study was that if found a marked correlated effect between the intensity of trauma and the increased likelihood of developing a wide range of negative health risks later in life, including substance abuse and addiction.

Since that original ACE report, study after study has found the same results. You take any group of alcoholics and drug addicts and you will find that those who have experienced childhood trauma are massively over-represented in that group, by the tune of 40-80%.