Indian children in South Dakota. Photo from Lakota People's Law Project / Facebook
Are we creating addicts?
By Ernestine Chasing Hawk In Gabor Maté’s book “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: A Close Encounter with Addiction” Maté makes a direct correlation between childhood loss and addiction. In chapter 14 titled, “Through a needle, a warm soft hug,” Maté explains the role of endorphins in the brain. The principal function of endorphins in the brain is that they soothe pain, both physical and emotional. Not only do they soothe pain they also produce a feeling of euphoria very similar to that produced by other opioids. Maté states that when a mother and her child have positive interaction, the endorphin receptors in the brain become more active, “Nurturing mothers experience major endorphin surges as they interact lovingly with their babies, endorphin highs can be one if the natural rewards of motherhood.” Endorphins he states are the key to emotional bonding between mother and child. Maté also explains the role of the brain chemical called oxytocin also known as one of the “Love hormones” which helps open the receptors in the brain to receive endorphins. By making our brains more receptive to endorphins, oxytocin allows us to remain hooked on our babies he says. Oxytocin is also like endorphins in that they reduce separation anxiety when infused into distressed young animals. Opioids do not take away pain Maté states, but they make the pain bearable. Toddlers with high levels of endorphins are more rambunctious he says and that children who complain easily about pain may be low on endorphins and less adventurous. Pain he says, whether physical or emotional, is felt in the same part of the brain and critical to our bonding with other human beings. Nature made sure we would stay close to those we are dependent on for survival and when we feel the emotional pain caused by separation, we will seek relief by reconnecting to those we love. The opposite is also true, he states, that when a child does not interact positively with its mother, or is separated from its mother, the endorphin system becomes latent from lack of activity. When the natural opioid receptors system is genetically knocked out in lab animals they are unable to experience secure connections with their mothers. Also when a child experiences emotional distress or pain and their parent is either unresponsive or not physically present to respond, endorphins are not released in the brain and the child will self-sooth by rocking, or thumb sucking or banging their heads against a wall or a floor. “Children who have not received the attentive presence of the parent are at greater risk for seeking chemical satisfaction from external sources later in life,” Maté states. My intent in relating Matés findings is to help people better understand that the intricate dynamics of our addictions actually stems from events early in our childhood. It may help us to rethink our perceptions about addictions which Maté adamantly denies is genetic. Putting a stop to drug dealers in our Indian communities by banishing them when they are convicted of a crime is a good place to start, but we really need to take a closer look at how addictions begin in the first place and deal with that honestly. We must take a close look at ourselves and scrutinize the way we are raising our children and grandchildren if we are truly going to get at the root cause of addictions. If we want our children and our grandchildren to grow up free from addictions than we must do things differently than the way things were done when we were growing up. It is so easy to blame someone or something else when things aren’t going right in our communities, but love doesn’t cost a thing and in the end that is really what our children and grandchildren need, Love. (Ernestine Chasing Hawk can be reached at: editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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