Addiction & Trauma
by Chris Glinski, APC
We have become all too familiar with addition and the wake of devastation it leaves behind. It’s hard to find people nowadays who haven’t struggled themselves or know someone who is struggling with addiction. According to a PEW Research Center survey, 46% of Americans say they have a family member or friend who is or has been addicted (2017). It is in our homes, our schools, our places of work, and everywhere in-between. It is a problem that feels hopeless and unsolvable. The statistics speak for themselves, NIDA estimates 85% of addicts in recovery will relapse in their first year of sobriety (Sinha, 2011). We are left picking up the pieces, trying to survive, and banging our heads against the wall crying out, “what am I supposed to do now?”
It should be noted that in the paragraph above the word “feels” was intentionally chosen to demonstrate hopelessness as an intense emotion that runs through the heart of all who know this disease too well. That emotion, although as real as it may feel, is just that - an emotion. In fact, recovery is something that is possible and attainable and this is where we find hope. The hope that we all can recover, whether we’re the addict or the addict is the loved one, there is a way to let go of the heaviness and experience life how we are designed to experience it - connected.
Addiction treatment has come a long way. The era of punishing and demanding retribution is long overdue. We are seeing a shift where addicts are not treated as criminals but as a group of people with intense emotional pain born out of trauma. Dr. Gabor Mate, renowned addiction expert and author, summed it up when he said, “all addictions come from emotional loss, and it exists to soothe the pain resulting from that loss” (2023). In fact 70% of adults, 223.4 million people, in the U.S. have experienced some sort of traumatic event, at least once in their life (National Council for Behavioral Health).. We’ve long viewed addiction as the problem, but according to Dr. Mate and the irrefutable research around trauma, it would conclude that addiction is a symptom of a much deeper emotional problem.
The Resilience Source, LLC provides trauma-informed care. This type of care is a necessity. It is an approach that acknowledges the need to understand a person’s life experiences in order to ensure effective care (Menschner and Maul, 2016). The American Psychological Association considers trauma to be any disturbing experience leading to a lasting emotional response (2023). Trauma can form from one single event or from repeated patterns of things like rejection and neglect. It doesn’t have to be to the magnitude of losing a loved one to experience something traumatic. Growing up with neglectful parents or being picked up at school can create narratives about who we are and our worth. You can learn negative beliefs about yourself or have thoughts that reinforce depression and low self-esteem. You may believe that you are unimportant, not accepted, or unloved.
It makes sense for someone who has suffered from trauma to find a way to self-soothe and cope with the pain they are experiencing. Addiction is born out of a desire for relief of that pain. Drowning out the depression with alcohol or numbing out the pain with pills is merely a survival mechanism. In a lot of ways we mask the beliefs by limiting the amount we feel those negative beliefs to be true. Addiction is designed to protect the individual from the emotional pain they are experiencing despite all of the negative consequences and threats of severed relationships.
This is a brief overview of how trauma and addiction create a cycle of dependence and insecure attachment. A lot of this is biological and a process one has very little control over. The brain activates into survival mode when the trauma event is triggered. We start feeling intense emotions and the brain says, “we can’t take this, we need to find a way to escape.” That thought can trigger the thought to use drugs and alcohol. It says, “you felt a lot better the last time you drank, just do that.” Before those signals lead into the prefrontal cortex (reasoning, rational, decision making, logical thinking), your brain has already been hijacked and is acting out of survival and emotions. You are convinced the best course of action is to numb out the emotions or mask them by using drugs and alcohol.
Skill-building
Quick Skill: The Window of Tolerance is something each individual has. This is a state of being that gives us the most effective way to function and thrive. We are either within the window of tolerance which is categorized by being balanced, calm, relaxed, think clearly, and make thoughtful decisions. One way to strengthen your Window of Tolerance is to practice and use emotion regulation skills. Something as simple as deep breathing, grounding skills, meditation, and prayer. Whenever you feel yourself getting dysregulated, such as being more anxious, your heart starts beating faster, maybe you get sweaty hands or have agitation, then use these skills to help relax your body and move back into the Window of Tolerance. Stress, anxiety, sadness, fear are all part of being human. These emotions are normal and healthy to have. They can get to a point where they limit our ability to function optimally and that is when we use the emotion regulation skills.
You Practice: Think of something that has been mildly disturbing. Maybe someone cut you off recently or lied to you about something. As you think of that, notice what you're feeling. Maybe emotionally, you feel angry or betrayed. Maybe you notice your body becoming more tense and your heart rate is a little more elevated. Notice that and take a deep breath in for 4 seconds and hold it for 4 seconds. Then exhale for 4 seconds and hold the start of your next breath for 4 seconds. Repeat this “box breathing” exercise for 4 rounds total.
Do you notice any shifts? Changes within your body or emotions? Maybe you felt the tension release and you feel more calm. Maybe you didn’t experience any changes. That’s okay too - like anything, these are skills and you need continual practice for them to become effective.
EMDR
Resilience Source offers a holistic approach to treating trauma and addiction through evidence based treatment models. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), developed in 1987, has become increasingly popular over the years as a prescribed treatment for trauma and a part of the services Resilience Source offers. During this treatment, you can learn the skills needed to help stay within the window of tolerance, and process through the trauma events to help lower the level of disturbance caused by the trauma event and symptoms. EMDR can help alleviate the need for self-soothing and coping in dysfunctional ways, such as addictions and other unhelpful behaviors.
Studies have shown that with EMDR, people can experience the benefits they’d receive doing psychotherapy in a much quicker time. There are 8 phases in EMDR:
History Taking
Preparation
Assessment
Desensitization
Installation
Body Scan
Closure
Reevaluation
The EMDR Institute, INC (2022) gives a concise overview of what makes EMDR more effective than other therapies,
“Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session. After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, he asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. As this happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.” Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.”
We can help.
Resilience Source offers a variety of different types of treatment and therapies. Each clinician is trauma-informed and provides holistic care tailored to each client.
If you are interested in learning more about Resilience Source, treatment for addiction and trauma, or have any questions please feel free to reach out for a free consultation.
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Resources
American Psychological Association. (2023). Trauma. https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma
Gabor, M. (2022, December 23). Addiction. Dr. Gabor Maté. https://drgabormate.com/addiction/
How to manage trauma - National Council for Mental Wellbeing. (n.d.). https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tra uma-infographic.pdf
Menon SB, Jayan C. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: a conceptual framework. Indian J Psychol Med. 2010 Jul;32(2):136-40. doi: 10.4103/0253-7176.78512. PMID: 21716864; PMCID: PMC3122545.
Pew Research Center. (2017, October 24). Financial well-being, personal characteristics and lifestyles of the political typology.
Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2017/10/24/10-financial-well-being-personal-characteristics-and-lifestyles-of-the-political-typology/#d rug-addiction-has-impacted-gop-and-democratic-groups-alike
Sinha, R. (2011). New findings on biological factors predicting addiction relapse vulnerability. Current Psychiatry Reports, 13(5), 398–405.
What is EMDR?. EMDR Institute - EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING THERAPY. (2022, October 20). https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/
