It is now recognized that traumatic experiences are highly correlated with substance use disorders (SUDs). Trauma and addiction are closely linked for more people than previously understood, largely because researchers are constantly learning more about trauma and how it affects the brain. In an addiction treatment center’s trauma therapy program, clinicians are trained to provide addiction and trauma treatment concurrently for maximum effect.
If you or someone you love has a history of trauma, with or without a diagnosis of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), as well as a co-occurring SUD, please reach out to Insight Recovery Center in Asheville. We can answer your questions about how you can begin your trauma and addiction recovery. Call 828.826.1376 to connect with us!
What Is Trauma?
Trauma can be experienced in numerous ways. Brain scientists understand that it can result from huge, one-of-a-kind disasters like tornados, prolonged exposure to situations such as war, and horrible things that take place away from the public eye. Some examples are below:
- Bullying
- Natural disasters
- War
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Sex trafficking
- Community violence
- Terrorism
- Intimate partner violence
- Medical crises or severe illness
- Being a refugee
- Traumatic grief
- Childhood neglect
Trauma clusters or sustained exposure to trauma can lead to complex PTSD or C-PTSD. Complex trauma often begins in childhood and can have devastating effects throughout life if not treated.
How Trauma Affects the Brain
Traumatic experiences literally change the brain—but these changes can be reversed with trauma therapy. Your survival is your brain’s main priority. If that survival is threatened—as in experiences of traumatic events—the brain will adapt however it needs to. It will rewire itself to ensure that you are prepared next time you are endangered. That means you are in a constant state of hypervigilance, which leads to stress hormones at high levels and the possibility of being triggered to re-experience the trauma.
The long-term changes in the brain, particularly when children are exposed to ongoing trauma, can be lasting. This is why trauma can lead to long-term mental health issues, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and addiction.
Trauma makes it difficult or impossible to:
- Forge healthy identity awareness
- Develop healthy attachments
- Feel safe and secure, or develop trust
- Develop in healthy ways intellectually, socially, psychologically, and emotionally
- Know how to have healthy boundaries
There is no such thing as a healthy amount of trauma. Not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD, but survivors of trauma may also develop anxiety and depression. Any trauma can lead to misuse of substances as a form of self-medication that can lead to addiction.
Addiction and Trauma Treatment
Treatment for trauma dovetails with the treatment of SUDs in trauma and addiction centers. The trained clinicians at Insight Recovery Center focus on specific goals with anyone experiencing trauma-related addiction. Some of those goals include helping you to:
- Face your trauma without re-experiencing it, and reduce the way it can trigger fight-or-flight
- Gain control of your life and substance abuse
- Live in the here and now without being controlled by the past
- Learn about generational trauma and how that affects you
- Enable you to function well in the day-to-day
At Insight Recovery Center in Asheville, our trauma therapy addresses underlying issues that affect your relationship with drugs and alcohol to help you begin recovery.
Contact Insight Recovery Center Today about Trauma and Addiction
Our trauma and addiction center in Asheville is ready to help you overcome the effects of trauma and usher you onto the path of recovery. Let us answer your questions and inform you about your choices. Call today at 828.826.1376 or contact Insight Recovery Center online.
You deserve to live the healthy, balanced, happy life that was meant for you, free from substances and the effects of trauma.