Trauma of ice both physical, emotional

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

Many youngsters who grow up among methamphetamine addicts will suffer long-term consequences from violence they witness, chaotic living conditions and abandonment, psychologists say.

James Jolliff, a Waimea clinical psychologist, has a part-time practice in which more than half of his clients are youngsters from homes where methamphetamine use has damaged the family and scarred the children.

He sees children from foster homes and children still living with one or both parents, and said the experiences these youngsters have been through have affected them deeply.

He recalled one girl who witnessed her father, who had an ice problem, attempt to hang himself in the back yard. The father survived and got help, "but her trauma continues, because she can't quite forget what that was like to see her daddy hanging there in the tree," Jolliff said.

Life doesn't necessarily turn out badly for such children and some can overcome the circumstances of a traumatic childhood, the psychologists said. But the experts said that as they watch these youngsters mature and strike out on their own, the sad stories seem to outnumber the happy endings.

There are about 7,000 children in foster care in Hawai'i today, with Child Protective Services workers estimating that about 85 percent of their cases statewide are ice-related in some way.

That makes it clear the impact of methamphetamine is "huge," said Lillian Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services.

G. Sue McCann, a Waimea psychologist who specializes in treating adolescents, said one common pattern is that many of the abandoned children of addicts believe as they get older that they were left behind because they are insignificant or because there is something wrong with them.

Experts say these youngsters may respond in a variety of ways, but many are angry, destructive and may struggle in school and at work.

They tend to gravitate to other kids like themselves at school, and because of both genetics and what they witnessed in their homes, many may be at increased risk for drug and alcohol addiction themselves.

Several months ago, a Big Island CPS worker encountered a 10-year-old child who was using ice, the youngest methamphetamine user the Big Island CPS staff has seen.

Jolliff said many of the children from these backgrounds have learned patterns of behavior that make them difficult to live with. If they are in foster care, even caring foster families may become exhausted, and may give up.

"So, you see kids with four and five foster placements because they are so difficult to manage," Jolliff said. "The kids who are lucky kids are those who find an adult someplace who's willing to take the long ride with them, and believe in them and go though all the crises and the ongoing stress to help them though adolescence, and maybe have some success in high school and so forth."

Meth addiction in the family setting also has implications for the cycles of domestic violence, in which abusers often come from abusive homes.

Big Island shelter officials believe that most of the women seeking refuge at domestic violence shelters today are involved in some way with methamphetamine, either because they are using or because their partner is addicted.

Linda Slutter, programs director for the Alternatives to Violence program in Kona, said the spouse abuse shelter population there has been more erratic in recent months because of ice addiction.

Slutter estimated 50 percent to 60 percent of the women who have come to the shelter in the past year admit they are addicted to something — usually methamphetamine — and quickly leave because they crave the drug.

In some cases the women arrive alone because their children have already been taken by the state, she said. Others take their children with them when they leave.

"It's just an untenable situation for the children to be in, and yet they're living it every day of their lives," Slutter said. "They are the truly innocent bystanders who are being affected for the rest of their lives."

Jack Maynor, a child counselor at a Big Island spouse-abuse shelter, works with children in hopes of breaking the cycle where the children of abusers often grow up to be abusers themselves.

Maynor sees children arrive who are thin, dirty, carry lice and have rotten teeth, and crave the ordinary pleasures of toys and a safe childhood that most people take for granted.

The younger children are still sweet and open, but the older ones show signs they will carry scars, he said. "A lot of kids, you just see a chip starting to form on their shoulder. They don't comprehend the whole thing, but they're just mad."

Maynor worries that many such children "fall through the cracks."

"Some of my work really upsets me because I think they start to trust adults, to trust in us, and I send them back out in the fire," he said. "They start to think that people around them are looking out for them, wanting to do something, and then, boom, they're back in this real world."

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.