Drug Epidemic 2017: Opioid Abuse Linked To Childhood Emotional Trauma, Researchers Find

Is opioid drug abuse in adults linked to emotional abuse they might have faced during their childhood? If you are to believe the researchers at the University of Vermont, then these two have a close association.

A new study published in an issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors found that children who have been emotionally abused during their childhood are more likely to be rash and violent in their adolescent years and as a result suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as adults. Many such adults, who suffered from PTSD, took to opioid abuse to help them reduce their sufferings.

The study also discovered new treatment techniques and approaches that could be used to deal with the opioid abusers, several reports said Tuesday.

Read: Americans Might Not Know Much About Drug Abuse Problem, New Survey Shows

"If a person is being physically or sexually abused, it's easier to put the blame on the person doing the abuse," Matthew Price, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Vermont and a senior author for the study told Medical Express. "With emotional abuse, the abuser is saying 'You are the problem.' Being called names, being told you're not good enough, being told no one cares about you, undermines your ability to cope with difficult emotions. To protect themselves from strong emotions and from trauma cues that can bring on PTSD symptoms, people with this kind of childhood experience frequently adopt a strategy of avoidance, which can include opioid use," he added.

The team of researchers from the Vermont University, in the study, analyzed the results that were obtained from a series of psychological tests provided to 84 participants, who had a history of childhood emotional and opioid abuse. The study showed that sexual or physical abuse during childhood years was loosley associated with opioid use as compared to emotional abuse in childhood.

The study suggested some new treatment approaches, where researchers said that mental health counseling might be effective for individuals who have taken to opioid abuse after facing childhood trauma. The researchers also suggested that the association between opioid abuse and childhood trauma could be the reason why some opioid users do not effectively respond to substance abuse counseling.

"Mental health counselors will frequently say, 'Deal with your drug issues first, then come see me.' We should really start to explore more integrated treatment. If a patient has had severe emotional abuse and they have a tendency to act out when they're feeling upset, and then they turn to opioids to deal with the resulting PTSD, it makes sense to address the emotional component and the drug problems at the same time," Price said commenting on the findings of the study.