From the University of Exeter press release:<\/p>\n
\nPeople who have experienced childhood trauma get a more pleasurable “high” from morphine<\/strong>, new research suggests.<\/p>\n
\nUniversity of Exeter scientists compared the effects of morphine on 52 healthy people — 27 with a history of childhood abuse and neglect, and 25 who reported no such experiences in childhood.<\/p>\n
Those with childhood trauma liked morphine (an opioid drug) more, felt more euphoric and had a stronger desire for another dose.<\/p>\n
Those with no childhood trauma were more likely to dislike the effects and feel dizzy or nauseous.<\/p>\n
“There are high rates of childhood trauma in people with addictions<\/strong>. Our findings show that these sorts of experiences can actually change how certain drugs feel<\/strong>,” said lead author Dr Molly Carlyle, who conducted this research at Exeter and is now at the University of Queensland.<\/p>\n
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to link childhood trauma with the effects of opioids in people without histories of addiction, suggesting that childhood trauma may lead to a greater sensitivity to the positive and pleasurable effects of opioids.<\/p>\n
“This may explain the link between childhood trauma and vulnerability to opioid use disorder<\/strong>, with implications for treatments and the prescribing of opioids medically.”<\/p>\n
One possible explanation for the differing responses to morphine is that childhood trauma affects the development of the endogenous opioid system<\/strong> (a pain-relieving system that is sensitive to chemicals including endorphins — our natural opioids).<\/p>\n
“It’s possible that childhood trauma dampens that system,” Carlyle explained.<\/p>\n
“When a baby cries and is comforted, endorphins are released — so if loving interactions like this don’t happen, this system may develop differently and could become more sensitive to the rewarding effects of opioid drugs.”<\/p>\n
Professor Celia Morgan, of the University of Exeter, who leads the research group, said: “Our findings that people who have been traumatised as children are more likely to enjoy morphine might help to reduce stigma around heroin use.<\/p>\n
“Many opioid addicts are people who were traumatised in early childhood, but it is still widely believed that addiction is a weakness and that addicts simply lack self-control.<\/p>\n
“This research may be a step towards treating heroin addicts with more compassion, as we would children with histories of trauma.<\/p>\n
“Our study also highlights the importance of interventions aimed at high-risk children and adolescents to protect against opioid use.”<\/p>\n
The study’s participants, aged 18-65, had either reported experiencing severe childhood trauma (abuse or neglect, as measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) or reported no childhood trauma.<\/p>\n
They each attended two sessions, a week apart, and received either an active dose of morphine (0.15mg\/kg) or a negligible control dose (0.01mg\/kg) in a randomised, double-blind crossover design.<\/p>\n
People’s experiences of morphine were measured by asking them a set of questions eight times — once before the morphine injections, then at regular intervals afterwards.<\/p>\n
Pain was also measured by placing a hand in cold water and recording how long it took people to find this painful and how long they could tolerate leaving their hand in the water.<\/p>\n
Morphine increased pain threshold and tolerance, but this did not differ between the trauma and non-trauma groups.<\/p>\n
There was also a computerised button-pressing task that measured effort to obtain more morphine by button pressing for either a theoretical amount of money or morphine. No differences were found between the two groups during this task.<\/p>\n
This may have been because money is highly rewarding in non-addicted groups and was not a suitable comparator for this task.<\/p>\n
The testing was carried out at the Clinical Research Facility at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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