1. Feature Article: "The Link Between Childhood Trauma and Disorders in Adult
Life"
Today's article comes from the Renewed Man Boot Camp. Renewed Man is a systematic teaching and coaching series designed to help men grow emotionally, relationally, and spiritually ... developing the essential character quality of "self-mastery." Even though this community is created for men, the principles are universal --
women will benefit from these insights as well.
We build this teaching around 12 Keys, and this week, we're focusing on Key 6:
PEACE WITH OUR PAST. Here's how we put it:
6. PEACE WITH OUR
PAST - We recognize the power of early life trauma and deprivation, and we take steps to come to terms with our wounds. We can’t fix deep habits or compulsions without getting below the surface and dealing with what drives them.
Here's one of the daily messages from this week's teaching series. It focuses more narrowly on a particular
habit that I recommend people add to their environment. I hope this will help you:
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"It is impossible to overstate the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental and physical health." - Gabor Mate
When we repress emotions we are playing havoc with our nervous system, hormones, immune system, intestines, heart, and other organs. The result can be chronic or acute illness. As repressed anger
eventually turns against us, the immune system can as well. We see this in autoimmune disorders, for example.
Interactions between the brain and body also determine that adverse early childhood circumstances—even in
utero—leave us in the long term with more than just psychological and emotional effects.
THE IMPACT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
Early childhood experiences have a physical impact -- not just psychological. Adverse experiences can directly promote disease. Studies from the United States and New Zealand have shown, for example, that healthy adults who suffered childhood mistreatment were more likely to have elevated inflammatory products in their circulation in response to stressful experiences. Such overactive stress reactions are, in turn, a risk factor for conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other
illnesses.
It is impossible to overstate the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental and physical health. Myriad studies have demonstrated that early-life suffering increases the likelihood of many illnesses, from mental diseases such as depression, psychosis, or addiction to autoimmune conditions, to cancer. One Canadian study demonstrated that childhood abuse raised the risk of cancer nearly 50 percent, even when controlled for lifestyle habits such as smoking and
drinking.
Addictions in particular are responses to early trauma. Whether to drugs, food, sex, gambling, or whatever other form they take, all are attempts to soothe
stress and emotional pain. The first question is never "why the addiction," but "why the pain?"
We cannot understand the
addictions that beset our society without recognizing the suffering and stress they are intended to alleviate, or the childhood trauma at their source. In this light, the obesity epidemic now facing us reflects primarily an epidemic of pain and stress.
Finally, family stresses, trauma,
and social and economic deprivation can also affect human brain development in ways that lead to behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and mental illness. CT scan studies at the University of Wisconsin showed that brain centers responsible for academic performance were up to 10 percent smaller in children who grew up in the poorest
homes.
WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?
Because the human brain itself is a social organ, shaped in its neurophysiological and neurochemical development by the child’s relationships. In the words of a recent article in Journal of
Pediatrics:
“The interaction of genes and experiences literally shapes the circuitry of the developing brain, and is critically influenced by the mutual responsiveness of adult-child relationships, particularly in the early childhood
years.”
Parents stressed by multigenerational trauma, relationship issues, economic insecurity, maternal depression, or social disconnection are simply unable to give their children the “mutually responsive”
attuned interactions that optimal childhood development requires.
The result is the epidemic of developmental disorders among our children that we are now witnessing. In line with the prevailing ideology, the medical response is mostly pharmaceutical. Rather than considering the environment that, throughout childhood, shapes the brain, we seek to manipulate the child’s brain chemistry instead.
Source: This writeup comes
from the article "How to
Build a Culture of Good Health,' by one of today's leading thinkers in the field of addiction and trauma, Dr. Gabor Mate.
NEXT ACTION
Today's recovery action is to examine your life for any traumatic experiences and consider how they may have impacted your mental and physical health. You've no doubt spent some time reflecting on these questions in the past. Does anything new come up after reading the article?
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Would you like to go "all in" and join the Renewed Man Boot
Camp? It's a 12 Week Immersion in these principles. You'll get these daily teachings, a weekly video on one of the 12 Keys of Being a Renewed Man, and access to a support group and/or a coaching group that I lead.
Find out more about the Renewed Man Program here.
