Childhood sexual abuse and it's correlation with substance abuse

SHREYA SINGH 

Childhood and the ages of adolescence are extremely crucial, being a person’s formative years. A loving and supportive environment in those years can influence what kind of a human being a person turns out to be which may go on to shape the course of their life. Traumatizing event in this period can have severe consequences and the short and long term impacts are devastating.

 Sexual abuse in childhood has lasting effects and can cause severe emotional damage. Most recently this correlation was seen in the popular show, Patrick Melrose based on the semiautobiographical book series by Edward St Aubyn in which the protagonist struggles with substance abuse issues to deal with the relationship with his sexually abusive father.

The primary focus of this blog post is Childhood sexual abuse and it’s link with substance abuse. The post starts by analysing the positive correlation between childhood sexual abuse with substance abuse later in life and discuss some of its features. It will first discuss the positive correlation and the use of substances as a negative coping mechanism. It will then look at features such as the early onset of substance use, and comorbidity. Finally it will examine the impact of childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse on the person itself and those around them.

One million children are abused yearly in the US alone(Lyness, 2015). This early age trauma causes emotional scars that last a lifetime. Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between sexual abuse in childhood and development of substance abuse problems later in life. A study done in an inpatient detoxification unit revealed an extraordinarily high frequency of physical and sexual abuse among men and women alike. 72% of the people had experienced interpersonal trauma and 75% of them had experienced it for the first time as children(Liebschutz et al., 2002). Abused children are 1.5 time more likely to report illicit drug use proving there is a positive association between lifetime exposure to untreated trauma and substance abuse which according to the study increased the likelihood of cannabis use. Early onset of substance abuse is also seen in victims of childhood sexual harassment. In the detoxification unit study mentioned above, 81% of women and 69% of men started using drugs at the age of 13 and 11 respectively (Liebschutz et al., 2002).

Another important feature of substance abuse is comorbidity. Substance use often develops as a maladaptive strategy which people end up using to handle the negative results of their trauma exposure where the substance abuse disorder is often comorbid with PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) and depression(Mandavia et al., 2016). Early traumatic experience increases the risk of substance abuse as people tend to self-medicate to dampen the negative feelings associated with a dysregulated biological stress response. In cocaine dependent patients it was seen that those whose PTSD preceded their substance abuse, the trauma was mostly childhood abuse(Khoury et al., 2010). Therefore it can be seen that substance abuse is highly comorbid with PTSD and depression.

Finally a significant feature is the effect of substance abuse disorder (SUD) on the victims and those around them. People who were abused as children are more likely to have problems in forming and maintaining relationships. They struggle with low self-esteem, depression , suicidal thoughts and other mental illnesses(Lyness, 2015). Interpersonal trauma or exposure to traumatic events can lead to wide range of impairments in a child. Childhood maltreatment can lead to Emotional Dysregulation (ED) which is a set of interrelated psychological and physiological which allows the regulation of feelings, behaviours and responses to events that elicit emotions. ED makes it difficult to manage negative emotional states and affects the ability to work, understand and be accepted by others which causes people to resort to substances as discussed above. Childhood abuse is a strong risk factor for ED(Dvir et al., 2014). A person with substance abuse disorder unintentionally might harm those around them especially if they are in a romantic relationship or have children. Children of those with SUD feel guilt and responsible for their parents habits. Home is not an emotionally or physically safe space for the kids. People around someone with SUD deal with a lot of anxiety, hopelessness and such feelings(Mandavia et al., 2016).

In conclusion this discussion shows firstly how there is a positive correlation between sexual abuse as a child and the development of SUD. Further it is seen how sexual abuse triggers early onset of substance use and it’s comorbidity with other mental health problems. Finally this blogpost shows the impact of early sexual abuse and SUD on the victim and the people around them.

Work Cited:

1.     Lyness, D. A. (Ed.). (2015, August). Child Abuse (for Parents). Retrieved from https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/child-abuse.html.

2.     Dvir, Y., Ford, J. D., Hill, M., & Frazier, J. A. (2014). Childhood maltreatment, emotional dysregulation, and psychiatric comorbidities. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091823/.

3.     Liebschutz, J., Savetsky, J. B., Saitz, R., Horton, N. J., Lloyd-Travaglini, C., & Samet, J. H. (2002, April). The relationship between sexual and physical abuse and substance abuse consequences. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861063/.

4.     Mandavia, A., Robinson, G. G. N., Bradley, B., Ressler, K. J., & Powers, A. (2016, October). Exposure to Childhood Abuse and Later Substance Use: Indirect Effects of Emotion Dysregulation and Exposure to Trauma. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5064859/.

5.     Khoury, L., Tang, Y. L., Bradley, B., Cubells, J. F., & Ressler, K. J. (2010, December). Substance use, childhood traumatic experience, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in an urban civilian population. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3051362/.

6.     Lander, L., Howsare, J., & Byrne, M. (2013). The impact of substance use disorders on families and children: from theory to practice. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725219/.

7.     Treatment, C. for S. A. (1970, January 1). Chapter 2 Impact of Substance Abuse on Families. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64258/.