What each of these forms of addiction has in common is a basic struggle with self-regulation. Self-regulation is the internal capacity to regulate one’s emotions, behaviors, and relationships with self and others. Those who struggle with addictions have difficulty managing the vagaries of life and, as a result, use external means to regulate their overwhelming internal states.
Problems with self-regulation are often rooted in early developmental and environmental injuries. These wounds frequently combine with biological and temperamental vulnerabilities that render individuals at risk of possibly developing self-regulation difficulties. An insecure attachment with a primary caregiver is one of the most common injuries that produce such impediments. Another is child abuse trauma. This article will explore the etiological manifestations of insecure attachment and childhood trauma on the development of addictions.
Because our God is relational, He created us with an innate and biological need to attach to others. This need is initially seen in early childhood—in the attachment relationship between an infant and its primary caregiver.
British psychologist and child development pioneer, John Bowlby, was the first to explore this phenomenon of attachment. While working with hospitalized children, he observed three predictable stages of separation that children would experience when separated from their parents. These stages included one of protest, where children objected to separation by crying out for their caregivers; one of despair, where children expressed despondency in response to prolonged separation; and one of detachment, where children emotionally disengaged from their parents to protect themselves from the pain of protracted separation.
Bowlby believed that children have a biological instinct to attach to their caregivers to protect them from harm and provide a secure base from which they can safely explore the world around them. When this attachment bond is disrupted, children will respond with certain prescribed behaviors to preserve this connection and their self-integrity.
Attachment bonds are created through recurring interactions and mutual exchanges between a primary caregiver and a child. Because infants are born speaking a non-verbal language of emotion, it is the caregiver’s responsibility to bond with the child by attuning to that emotional language. Through attuned communication with the infant, the caregiver modulates the child’s internal state through a process called dyadic regulation. For example, when a baby cries, the caregiver will emotionally soothe the child’s inner state by using a sympathetic tone of voice, congruent facial expressions, and tender, calming behaviors. Through such repeated experiences with a sensitive caregiver, the infant develops an internal working model of how relationships work. Over time, the child begins to internalize this process as the basis for self-regulation.
When contingent communication between the caregiver and child is absent, erratic, or frightening, an insecure attachment style is created, and the developing child is left without the means to soothe emotions or control behaviors adequately. As a result, the child erects primitive defenses to protect from overwhelming internal states. These maladaptive coping strategies often predispose individuals to develop addictive behaviors. For example, a child who has a neglectful and unavailable caregiver may develop an anxious-avoidant attachment style, where attachment needs are denied and external objects are used to soothe. Many anxious-avoidantly attached children are at risk of later becoming dependent on various substances or experiences in an attempt to regulate internal feelings externally.
Like insecure attachment, child abuse trauma can also render one at risk for addiction. When children experience the terror and powerlessness of child abuse, it takes a heavy toll on their developing brains. Powerful neurochemicals flood the brain, which can affect both its structure and function. In fact, because a child’s brain is so malleable and vulnerable to environmental stressors, the impact of child maltreatment may leave an indelible imprint upon the entire nervous system. This abuse then produces a highly reactive nervous system that is difficult to regulate.
Because a child’s developing mind cannot tolerate the emotional intensity and overwhelming consequences of child abuse, maladaptive psychological defenses are created to survive. For example, many individuals who were sexually abused as children used the psychological defense of dissociation to cope with the extreme physical and emotional assault on their minds and bodies. During the abuse, they learned to split off and essentially fracture their consciousness to cope with the devastating onslaught on their bodies. In adulthood, many continue to use dissociation as a primary coping strategy which hinders their ability to manage any emotional experience in a healthy manner. As such, they are at significant risk for addictions to numb their internal pain further.
Sadly, many victims of child abuse trauma suffer from an insecure attachment as well. These joint experiences create an even greater risk for later struggles with addiction. This is especially true for those abused by an attachment figure who was supposed to protect and care for them. When this occurs, it places a child in a dilemma of fright without solution. The person who is supposed to offer protection is harming them. As a result, normal attachment strategies fail, and the child is confused about where to find safety. Relationships become dangerous as these experiences of insecure attachment and child abuse trauma ultimately distort one’s sense of self and understanding of others. Then, this interferes with interpersonal relationships that can have the power to heal these wounds. The most critical relationship that may be damaged is the one with Jesus Christ.
As Paul, Augustine, and Paschal identified centuries ago, there is a place inside each of us that only God can fill, like a specific God attachment. Unfortunately, many who struggle with addictions are searching to fill that place by external means rather than using God as the ultimate attachment figure who can facilitate internal self-regulation. Individuals with addictions who never have a secure attachment experience with their caregivers become attached to their “drug” for soothing and self-regulation.
Because addiction often has attachment insecurity and trauma at its core, treatment of addiction needs to incorporate interpersonal relationships as part of a recovery protocol. Self-help programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Recovery ALIVE!, and Celebrate Recovery, provide such a system of interpersonal connection and accountability. In early recovery, people struggling with addictions are like young children who need an attachment figure to help them manage and regulate their internal emotional states. These programs utilize the power of God, and Jesus Christ specifically, in Christ-centered programs like Recovery ALIVE! and Celebrate Recovery to facilitate renewal. Similarly, finding a counselor with whom one can attach and feel safe can also establish healing. For complete healing, connecting to and creating a secure attachment with Jesus Christ is the ultimate mode of recovery.
Shannae Anderson, Ph.D., is a clinical and forensic psychologist at the AACC, where she is the Director of Psychology and Co-director of the Ethics and Advocacy Division. She is also the Clinical Director of an Intensive Outpatient Addiction Treatment Program in Southern California. Dr. Anderson maintains a private practice specializing in treating complex trauma, addictions, and personality disorders.
