Childhood trauma and the ACE score

When you go to meetings, IOP or counseling, there is a lot of talk about childhood traumas as a cause of addiction.

The ACE study ( Adversed Childhood Experiences) formulated a score to access one’s risk of addiction. Factors such as:

Having an addicted parent

Having a parent that’s been incarcerated

Being sexual abused

Having a parent that’s been physically abused

Growing up in a home with lots of yelling

Having a family member that’s depressed or has a mental illness

Having parents that are divorced or separated

I wholeheartedly agree that any of those could lead to drug abuse and addiction.

But what if none of those apply?

Every counselor and meeting continuously talks about childhood trauma .

I have to wonder what trauma my son had?

Was it the private school education?

Or maybe the yearly family vacations and the summers spent fishing in the Florida Keys ?

Maybe it was the nightly discussions and debates at the dinner table covering any and every topic, from politics, world events, etc.

Or maybe it was just having two parents very much in love, who love their children too much? Who believed that spending and investing time with their children was the most important thing as a parent and as a family.

I know plenty of people who did suffer trauma as children who are not addicts.

And I know people, my son included, who suffered no trauma and still became addicts.

So I really don’t buy into the meetings that constantly talk about it.

I think it’s more to do with genetics and personality traits.

I believe the drug problem is worse today because society as a hole is worse.

Just my opinions.