When You’re A Kid You Don’t Know It Happens To Anyone Else

I was listening to the recent episode of the Psych Central Podcast, an interview with Erik Coleman, a former NFL player, and the child of drug addicts. The whole thing is interesting, but around the ninth minute of the show, Gabe asks him about what he thinks are the most important thing that can be done for families in that situation, and his answer was quite enlightening for anyone dealing with childhood trauma.

To paraphrase his answer, he talked about mentoring by people who’ve been there, and come through it. Because, as he described it, when he was 11 and discovered his parents were drug addicts, he did the same thing many of us did at that age, and assumed he was the only person dealing with this, and couldn’t understand why this was happening to him.

Sound familiar child abuse survivors? At age 11, of course we think we are the only people in the world dealing with this, how would we know any different?

We’d know if there were more people willing to tell their stories, and make sure others know they are not alone, and that there is hope.

Erik, and his family, had a rough time, and came through it on the other end to be successful and have the opportunity to give back to the world. That’s actually rare for families with addiction issues, but how powerful is it that a kid today who’s got addicts in his/her family can hear that story and know they aren’t the only one?

That’s why we share our stories, and ask you to share them as well.