--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The hardcore drug addicts that I treat…" description: "\"“The hardcore drug addicts that I treat, are, without exception, people who have had extraordinarily difficult lives. The commonality is childhood abus..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/gabor-mat-1410_abuse_the-hardcore-drug-addicts-that-i-treat-a_3144422.png" --- # The hardcore drug addicts that I treat, are, without… ![“The hardcore drug addicts that I treat, are, without exception, people who have had extraordinarily difficult lives. The commonality is childhood abuse. These people all enter life under extremely adverse circumstances. Not only did they not get what they need for healthy development; they…” quote by Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/gabor-mat-1410_abuse_the-hardcore-drug-addicts-that-i-treat-a_3144422.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/gabor-mat-1410_abuse_the-hardcore-drug-addicts-that-i-treat-a_3144422.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/gabor-mat-1410_abuse_the-hardcore-drug-addicts-that-i-treat-a_3144422.png) > ““The hardcore drug addicts that I treat, are, without exception, people who have had extraordinarily difficult lives. The commonality is childhood abuse. These people all enter life under extremely adverse circumstances. Not only did they not get what they need for healthy development; they actually got negative circumstances of neglect. I don’t have a single female patient in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver who wasn’t sexually abused, for example, as were many of the men, or abused, neglected and abandoned serially, over and over again. That’s what sets up the brain biology of addiction. In other words, the addiction is related both psychologically, in terms of emotional pain relief, and neurobiological development to early adversity.”” [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Childhood trauma creates emotional and neurobiological vulnerabilities that predispose individuals to addiction as **In simple terms:** Early abuse leads to addiction risk Key Takeaway Address trauma to prevent addiction Themes trauma addiction neurobiology psychology healthcare Mood empathetic serious hopeful Type clinical educational advocacy When to use this quote - clinical practice - policy making - community outreach - support groups - rehabilitation programs Key Concepts attachment theory stress response dopamine pathways Questions to Reflect On - How can early interventions reduce addiction risk? - What role does community support play in healing trauma? A Different Perspective Trauma alone does not guarantee addiction; resilience and protective factors matter ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Addiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/addiction/) [Childhood trauma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-trauma/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Drug Addicts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug-addicts/) [Emotional pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional-pain/) [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Pain relief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-relief/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Single Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-female/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [“In the cloudy swirl of misleading ideas surrounding public discussion of addiction, there’s one that stands out: the misconception that drug taking by itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/in-the-cloudy-swirl-of-misleading-ideas-surrounding-public-discussion/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“I was diagnosed with ADHD in my mid fifties and I was given Ritalin and Dexedrine. 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I believe there is one addiction process, whether it is manifested in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/no-society-can-understand-itself-without-looking-at-its-shadow-side-i/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Harm reduction is often perceived as being inimical to the ultimate purpose of “curing” addiction—that is, of helping addicts transcend their habits and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/harm-reduction-is-often-perceived-as-being-inimical-to-the-ultimate/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“All addictions — whether to drugs or to nondrug behaviours — share the same brain circuits and brain chemicals. On the biochemical level the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/all-addictions-whether-to-drugs-or-to-nondrug-behaviours-share-the/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“A sense of deficient emptiness pervades our entire culture. 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One became the acestor of all chimpanzees, the other is our own grandmother.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/just-6-million-years-ago-a-single-female-ape-had-two-daughters-one/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [The crime and violence in the black community is a prime example of the damaging effect of broken families and single female-headed households.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lee-peterson/the-crime-and-violence-in-the-black-community-is-a-prime-example-of/) [Jesse Lee Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lee-peterson/) > [“Stop it,” I smacked him. “What if that was some guy hitting on me? I swear you attract single females in a five mile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micalea-smeltzer/stop-it-i-smacked-him-what-if-that-was-some-guy-hitting-on-me-i-swear/) [Micalea Smeltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micalea-smeltzer/) > [It shouldn't be normal to seldom see a single female face in a managerial position or on the boards of the biggest media companies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vick-hope/it-shouldn-t-be-normal-to-seldom-see-a-single-female-face-in-a/) [Vick Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vick-hope/) > [I understand by this passion the union of desire, friendship, and tenderness, which is inflamed by a single female, which prefers her to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/i-understand-by-this-passion-the-union-of-desire-friendship-and/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Years ago I wanted to buy an apartment in New York City. I was a single female - I had gone through my divorce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-ross/years-ago-i-wanted-to-buy-an-apartment-in-new-york-city-i-was-a/) [Diana Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-ross/) > [I never had a single female professor throughout my whole education, from the beginning of university to the end. Even all the books were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-geller/i-never-had-a-single-female-professor-throughout-my-whole-education/) [Margaret Geller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-geller/) ## More by Gabor Maté > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The fact is, we in this society are often quite removed from our own emotional reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-fact-is-we-in-this-society-are-often-quite-removed-from-our-own/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Shame is the deepest of the “negative emotions,” a feeling we will do almost anything to avoid. 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When children are traumatized that affects how they feel about themselves, which is deeply ashamed because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/so-what-you-ve-actually-got-is-traumatized-children-when-children-are/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Even without world wars, revolutions and emigration, siblings growing up in the same home almost never share the same environment. More accurately, brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/even-without-world-wars-revolutions-and-emigration-siblings-growing/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“We think that there are people who are normal over here, and then there’s the pathological ones who have depression, anxiety, addiction or schizophrenia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/we-think-that-there-are-people-who-are-normal-over-here-and-then/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“One cannot get much more vulnerable than to expose oneself psychologically. To share oneself with another and then be misunderstood or rejected is, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/one-cannot-get-much-more-vulnerable-than-to-expose-oneself/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The areas of the cortex responsible for attention and self-regulation develop in response to the emotional interaction with the person whom we may call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-areas-of-the-cortex-responsible-for-attention-and-self-regulation/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Peer-oriented children live in a universe of severely limited and superficial attachments. The quest for sameness being the least vulnerable way of attaching, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/peer-oriented-children-live-in-a-universe-of-severely-limited-and/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world’s population but houses nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-united-states-contains-less-than-5-percent-of-the-world-s/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) [Explore all 244 Gabor Maté quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. 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Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/build-a-bridge-over-shame-by-teaching-kids-about-sexual-abuse-give/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) > [It is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/it-is-sure-that-those-are-most-desirous-of-honour-or-glory-who-cry/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [I have a theory that all abuse, no matter what kind of abuse it is, is foremost an assault on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-westover/i-have-a-theory-that-all-abuse-no-matter-what-kind-of-abuse-it-is-is/) [Tara Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-westover/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [Finally, the scariest thing about abuse of any shape or form, is, in my opinion, not the abuse itself, but that if it continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cumming/finally-the-scariest-thing-about-abuse-of-any-shape-or-form-is-in-my/) [Alan Cumming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cumming/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Stand up for yourself. 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