Being bullied as a child has emerged as a significant factor in why people who subsequently become alcoholics or drug addicts took their first drink or drug, research has found.
Counsellor Helen Murphy, who examined the link between childhood bullying and substance misuse for her thesis, said “bullying featured hugely” among the men she interviewed where her focus was on “what really caused them to pick up that first drink or drug”.
As part of her research, Ms Murphy, who previously worked for three years at Fellowship House, an extended treatment programme for men that forms part of the Tabor Group addiction treatment service, interviewed men who had been residents in the house and were now in recovery.
“The overwhelming result was that childhood experiences were the significant factor in leading them to addiction and bullying featured hugely,” she said.
The types of bullying the 11 participants were exposed to included being bullied in school by peers and/or teachers and/or being bullied at home.
She said some of the men had been subjected to serious physical abuse as children, including one having a tooth pulled out at age 7.
“He was beaten up and had his teeth broken and one guy stood on him and pulled his tooth out. He was seven years old. He was on his way home from school and the guy who did it was his peer,” Ms Murphy said.
Some of the men had been subjected to verbal abuse and emotional bullying and in most cases, the bullying was prolonged.
“A lot of them started drinking or using to escape from the emotional pain that the bullying caused,” she said.
Source: Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner, 08/12/14
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