FINALLY !!!!!

FINALLY!
My answer to: “The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress”

In 1994, after finishing a manuscript about my abusive childhood, I asked a question that haunted me: Does childhood abuse have lasting effects?
Every psychologist I spoke to answered the same: “Children grow out of it.”

I knew they were wrong.
My trauma didn’t fade—it lived on in my body and mind, wrecking my ability to concentrate, fueling chronic anxiety, and shaping every part of my life.

As an adult, I was labeled “neurotic,” dismissed as a “hypochondriac,” or blamed—for not forgiving my abuser, or for not believing in God.

I spent hundreds of hours in cognitive and Gestalt therapy, tried EMDR, and even explored Primal Therapy. None of it changed anything.
Talking is a left-brain function.
Trauma lives deeper—in brain regions that words can’t reach.

Antidepressants masked the symptoms, but they didn’t heal the cause.
And neither therapy nor meds can fix damaged genes.

In 2000, I wrote to 36 universities across the U.S. and Europe, asking:
Can children develop PTSD? Do they show abnormal cortisol levels?
Only one replied: “Children don’t get PTSD.”

I pushed further—writing to President Clinton:
https://sieglindewalexander.com/category/letters/

In 2004, I asked the same universities if abuse alters gene function. Silence.

Now science is catching up.

Yet much research still blames poverty, ignoring abuse that exists in all social classes.

Why the silence? Fear of exposing cultural traditions? Fear of facing personal wounds? Or because abuse continues without consequence?

My DNA tells the story.
I have:

  • Markers for inflammation (interleukin)

  • rs7294919: linked to reduced hippocampus volume

  • SNP in the oxytocin receptor: less empathy under stress

  • rs1360780(T): higher depression risk & poor antidepressant response

This explains my psoriasis, Addison’s disease, diabetes II, muscle weakness, and lifelong aversion to touch—every symptom rooted in fear.

We need action:

  • Fund epigenetic research to repair damaged gene switches.

  • Educate doctors to look for causes, not just medicate symptoms.

  • Identify “toxic stress” in struggling students instead of writing them off.

  • Support psychologically injured adults—because untreated trauma is passed down, biologically and behaviorally.

If we keep ignoring the science, we’re not just failing individuals—we’re building a weaker, sicker society.