Cecil Part 1: How Childhood Trauma, Poverty, and Emotional Suppression Lead to Addiction
20 January 2026

Cecil Part 1: How Childhood Trauma, Poverty, and Emotional Suppression Lead to Addiction

Recovery Demystified - Secular Addiction Recovery and Harm Reduction for Queers, Neurodivergent People, and Their Allies

About

In Part 1 of Cecil's story of addiction recovery and neurodivergence/ADHD, he talks about how childhood trauma, poverty, and emotional suppression lead to his addiction to alcohol. ACEs, or adverse childhood experiences, have been shown to have a dramatic affect on a person's chance of developing addiction. Cecil reflects on his upbringing in a trailer in podunk Arkansas with an abusive father who drank to excess. He quickly learned that showing emotions was unwelcome, and learned how to stuff them down. As a teenager he found that drinking with his cousins led to the human relationships he had longed for as a kid. He signed up for the military at age 17 as a way to escape. Tune in next week for Part Two!

Want to be interviewed on this podcast? Send us an email! info@recoverydemystified.com

Want to support this work? Join our Patreon here!

You can also donate to our Donorbox (less fees for us as a 501c3 nonprofit!) Click here to donate!

Connect with us on Instagram/Substack @recoverydemystified

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme Music: Logan Bragg