Domestic Abuse & Childhood Trauma

The relationship between childhood trauma and susceptibility to addiction can be better understood when one knows how experience influences the brain’s development. Growth is significantly affected by one’s experiences, both the positive and the negative. And while experience often leads to the brain developing in good ways, the experience can also be negative and alter the brain’s development. Observing individuals who had experienced childhood trauma and abuse, a study found that being mistreated during childhood caused frequent and extremely high levels of stress that impeded normal brain development. Consistent stress from experiencing frequent maltreatment initiated physiological stress responses that, over time, caused structural disruptions that likely made the victims of childhood trauma vulnerable to substance abuse disorders.