Trauma is a deeply disturbing
and distressing experience, which can have severe emotional repercussions later
in life. Trauma destroys proper growth in children by hijacking the love needed
for nurture and replacing it with fear and insecurity. Childhood trauma can be
said to be the root cause of addiction because it activates survival-oriented
behaviors that enable the malady. Top traumas that have activated addictive
tendencies range from rape, physical abuse, bullying, child abuse, PTSD
(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), emotional abuse, domestic violence,
witnessing violence, experiencing natural disasters, death and near death
experiences to name a few. Bottom line, the prevalence and pervasiveness of
addiction has at its foundation a life rooted in developmental pain and fear,
which needs addressing in order for healing to take place from within.
The Statistics:
There is a significant
corollary between trauma and the manifestation of addiction. 25 – 75% of the
number of people who have survived abuse / who have been violently traumatized
have become susceptible to alcoholism. 10 – 33% of accident / natural disaster
victims as well as those who have endured illnesses in their early life, have
also been prone to alcohol abuse. This correlation is not circumstantial nor
accidental in any way whatsoever. Experts say that addiction acts as part of an
extended post-traumatic coping mechanism – in other words, the solution for the
pain of trauma.
The Neurology / Physiology of Addiction / Science of Trauma-Addiction Corollary
Being a survivor of trauma
can switch on certain parasympathetic responses, which cannot be controlled.
These responses usually come from internal survival mechanisms. If someone is
trapped by a dangerous animal like a bear or a tiger; or if assaulted by a
criminal, the fight or flight response is activated by the stressors
(adrenaline) that are released through the adrenal glands.
These mechanisms are all
meant for basic survival and is useful for when defense is needed. Now, imagine
living with the criminal, the bear, or tiger; and having to be constantly on
that defense even in the simplest of things – that, my friend, is what living
with the effects of childhood trauma looks like. All of this can be explained
further by looking into the three parts of the brain responsible for this
parasympathetic response:
a)
In a trauma survivor, this part of the brain will be overactive leaving
the traumatized individual in constant surveillance for threats and seeking
ways to protect him/herself. Sometimes the toil of living a so-called “normal”
life without any foreseeable threats is good enough reason to still be on the
lookout for unforeseeable ones.
b)
In a trauma survivor, this part of the brain, which
is usually responsible for processing memories and experiences has become
underactive. What that looks like is that toxic memories of the past ruminate
and circulate, re-activating and replaying anxiety, depression, resentment,
shame, guilt, and despair time without number.
c)
In a trauma survivor,
survival-oriented instincts will overrule logical thinking and diminish
cognitive processing, while decreasing inhibition, thus creating the impulse
for compulsive and destructive behavior.
With an amygdala that seeks
constant protection, a hippocampus that activates threatening scenarios through
emotional and memorable recall at any time whatsoever, and a cortex that
compliments this sordid scenario with destructive behaviors done on impulse, it
is no wonder that trauma survivors turn to addiction for relief and keep at it
regardless of the cost and consequence!
Safety and Control – Drivers for Survival and
Addiction
If I were to tell you that
one’s desire for addiction is the noblest thing one would have done, would you
be surprised? After all, addiction has so much internal bad press from being
the root of all one’s woes, how could it ever be up there with things that are
deemed to be noble? Well, for a start, addiction started off as a desire to
feel better and survive a traumatic event. This desire is a noble desire
because it is at the very heart and root of survival. In other words, it is a
desire for life, which if anything has to be edifying. Much shame around being
an addict could be removed if only we could embrace this initial noble intent
to which addiction held at one time in life. So, instead of awfulizing one’s dark
history in addiction, one could see the positive intention that created the
need for it in the first place. These are the noble attributes to addiction and
how it helped one before it became the problem:
· Stay Safe: It allowed the survivor of trauma to feel
safe and protected after the event.
· Escape Memories: It allowed the survivor of trauma to
escape the process of an impaired Hippocampus, which was damaged due to the
traumatic event.
· Soothe pain: Traumatic events leave many with
emotional scarring, which is painful to bear. Addiction soothes this pain for a
brief moment.
· Be in Control: Survivors of Trauma want to be in
control because it was the powerlessness of their situation that caused the
trauma in the first place. Even the fallacy of control helps to bring sanity
and dignity to the troubled self.
· Create a world that’s tolerable: Trauma teaches that
the real world in whatever forms it takes is a dangerous place – so an
alternative reality is very much sought.
· Treating oneself the way one deserves: If love and
nurture is unattainable, then synthetic means of evoking it is sought after and
entitlement of it follows closely.
· Redefinition of Self: Addiction provides brief
self-empowerment and an identification that is far removed from the reality and
worldview of the traumatic event. In other words, the world is seen as the home
of trauma and pain; whilst addiction holds the promise of a better reality with
all the perks that go with it.
Healing and Recovery
There are a number of ways
one can recover and heal from childhood trauma and thus address the very roots
of the addiction. If addiction is to be seen as a tree, pruning the branches
solves part of the problem, and more of the problem is address if one cuts the
tree down. However, if the roots are not uprooted, chances are, that the tree
will grow back. The same goes for addiction. In order to fully recover from
this ailment, uprooting the problem from its root, is fundamental to complete
recovery, and I say this unabashedly for nothing less than complete freedom is
what one deserves, and overcoming developmental / childhood trauma is the best
thing one can do to attain that reachable goal! Below are a number of therapies
one can go for to address this issue further:
· Emotional Freedom Technique
· Somatic Experiencing
· EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)
· Talk Therapies
· Mindfulness
· Meditation
· Yoga
