--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People who have had severe childhood…" description: "\"People who have had severe childhood traumas lack the ability to regulate emotions and, as a result, gravitate toward whatever primitive means they can..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png" --- # People who have had severe childhood traumas lack the… ![“People who have had severe childhood traumas lack the ability to regulate emotions and, as a result, gravitate toward whatever primitive means they can come up with.” quote by Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png) > “People who have had severe childhood traumas lack the ability to regulate emotions and, as a result, gravitate toward whatever primitive means they can come up with.” [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Severe childhood trauma disrupts emotional regulation, leading to reliance on primitive coping mechanisms. **In simple terms:** Trauma impairs emotion control, causing crude coping. Key Takeaway Seek healthy emotional regulation strategies. Themes trauma emotional health coping Mood empathetic hopeful Type therapeutic educational When to use this quote - therapy - mindfulness - support groups - stress reduction Key Concepts psychology neuroscience Questions to Reflect On - What coping habits can you replace? - Who can help you develop healthier strategies? A Different Perspective Healing is a gradual process, not a quick fix. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Childhood trauma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-trauma/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [If the point of the inner-child movement is to cure adult problems, it doesn't work. 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It won't raise your self-esteem, it won't create profound connection, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alanis-morissette/i-want-to-poke-holes-in-the-erroneous-beliefs-about-what-fame/) [Alanis Morissette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alanis-morissette/) > [We're taught to find the antecedents to our adult failures in childhood traumas, and so we spend our lives looking bacwards and pointing fingers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/we-re-taught-to-find-the-antecedents-to-our-adult-failures-in/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [“It made old childhood traumas rise up like bad Chinese food does the next day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-easton/it-made-old-childhood-traumas-rise-up-like-bad-chinese-food-does-the/) [Eli Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-easton/) > [Trauma survivors have a deficiency in their capacity to regulate emotions - they're too prolonged and too intense and too negative. As a corollary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/trauma-survivors-have-a-deficiency-in-their-capacity-to-regulate/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Its not true that situations control us, we have the ability to respond in ways that will worsen or improve our situation. We can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/its-not-true-that-situations-control-us-we-have-the-ability-to/) Senoraroy > [“Just as your body has self-regulating mechanisms, like perspiring to cool you down and shivering to warm you up, you can regulate your emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/just-as-your-body-has-self-regulating-mechanisms-like-perspiring-to/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“For children to know and regulate their emotions, and be socially connected, they need to experience this kind of interaction many hundreds of times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-doidge/for-children-to-know-and-regulate-their-emotions-and-be-socially/) [Norman Doidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-doidge/) > [“If your child is a teenage empath, you might like to try introducing them to self-inquiry. As sensitive beings, empathic teenagers struggle greatly to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aletheia-luna/if-your-child-is-a-teenage-empath-you-might-like-to-try-introducing/) [Aletheia Luna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aletheia-luna/) > [How do we regulate our emotions? The answer is surprisingly simple: by thinking about them. The prefrontal cortex allows each of us to contemplate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/how-do-we-regulate-our-emotions-the-answer-is-surprisingly-simple-by/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [“There’s one thing you must remember—you can regulate your emotions. Once again, it is a skill, like any other. Calming down the unpleasant feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-tuhovsky/there-s-one-thing-you-must-remember-you-can-regulate-your-emotions/) [Ian Tuhovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-tuhovsky/) > [Our body is a small universe; to regulate emotions and feelings is a way of harmonization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/our-body-is-a-small-universe-to-regulate-emotions-and-feelings-is-a/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Childhood trauma is really what puts the rocket fuel behind addiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/childhood-trauma-is-really-what-puts-the-rocket-fuel-behind-addiction/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) ## More by Drew Pinsky > [An Internet 'relationship' doesn't have to be catastrophically harmful to be inappropriate. Hurtful is bad enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/an-internet-relationship-doesn-t-have-to-be-catastrophically-harmful/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Trauma super charges addiction and makes it really bad. It doesn't necessarily cause it, though it can trigger it. It's not necessarily the issue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/trauma-super-charges-addiction-and-makes-it-really-bad-it-doesn-t/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [The term 'doctor' has been so abused lately! I didn't live in a hospital for 10 years so that term could be bastardized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/the-term-doctor-has-been-so-abused-lately-i-didn-t-live-in-a-hospital/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Particularly women need to pay attention to what is unique to their own personal biology and emotional systems, and not deny it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/particularly-women-need-to-pay-attention-to-what-is-unique-to-their/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Every person is highly individualized so if a person is seriously concerned, then they first need to get a medical evaluation and make sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/every-person-is-highly-individualized-so-if-a-person-is-seriously/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [All medicine is gradations and differences and nuances. And there's such a thing as natural recovery: people spontaneously get better. It happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/all-medicine-is-gradations-and-differences-and-nuances-and-there-s/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Narcissism is not about self love. It's a clinical trait that belies a deep sense of emptiness, low self-esteem, emotional detachment, self-loathing, extreme problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/narcissism-is-not-about-self-love-it-s-a-clinical-trait-that-belies-a/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Millennials really don't perceive hierarchies. They either don't perceive them or don't like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/millennials-really-don-t-perceive-hierarchies-they-either-don-t/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Ages 18 to 22 is such a hard transition, everyone's depressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/ages-18-to-22-is-such-a-hard-transition-everyone-s-depressed/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Secrets keep addicts ill and cost lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/secrets-keep-addicts-ill-and-cost-lives/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [You should hear all the people talking to me about Heath Ledger, and yet I'm the only person shooting his mouth off out there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/you-should-hear-all-the-people-talking-to-me-about-heath-ledger-and/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [Treatment of alcohol addiction can take many forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/treatment-of-alcohol-addiction-can-take-many-forms/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [I was doing general medicine and during residency, I moonlighted at a psychiatric hospital and became very interested in the medical care of psychiatric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/i-was-doing-general-medicine-and-during-residency-i-moonlighted-at-a/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [As a clinician, I would never want to be coercive in relation to a patient, nor do I harbor the illusion that as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/as-a-clinician-i-would-never-want-to-be-coercive-in-relation-to-a/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [If you're experiencing symptoms such as depression, anxiety, uncontrolled use of substances, or any other behaviors that affect your functioning, please see a professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/if-you-re-experiencing-symptoms-such-as-depression-anxiety/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) [Explore all 116 Drew Pinsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) ## More Childhood quotes > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [I had a rough upbringing. Group homes. Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [When I talk about my childhood I used to say it as if it was scripted and I'd make jokes because it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/when-i-talk-about-my-childhood-i-used-to-say-it-as-if-it-was-scripted/) [Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kelly/downstairs-in-my-house-i-have-a-museum-room-i-keep-all-of-my-awards/) [R. Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kelly/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [On paper, it looks rough, but I had a great childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-morton/on-paper-it-looks-rough-but-i-had-a-great-childhood/) [Samantha Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-morton/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/i-m-not-sure-i-would-have-ever-started-to-draw-let-alone-write-if-my/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) [Browse all 5,837 Childhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People who have had severe childhood traumas lack the ability to regulate emotions and, as a result, gravitate toward whatever primitive means they can come up with.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Drew Pinsky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-traumas-lack-the-ability-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Childhood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-traumas-lack-the-ability-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/drew-pinsky-4091_childhood_people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-tra_2673022.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People who have had severe childhood traumas lack the ability to regulate emotions and, as a result…” — Drew Pinsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Drew Pinsky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People who have had severe childhood...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-traumas-lack-the-ability-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/people-who-have-had-severe-childhood-traumas-lack-the-ability-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```