1 in 13 young people in the UK have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and over 1 in 4 adults suffer anxiety, depression or PTSD and need support with those issues. Trauma has a long-lasting impact and shapes your life, how you see yourself, how you form relationships, how you perceive the world around you. It is deeply impactful, and not uncommon to hear that a person struggling with addiction has suffered a traumatic experience at some point in the past. Studies support this, suggesting that there is a strong link between the abuse of alcohol and substances like marijuana, opiates and cocaine, and childhood trauma.
Articles About Addiction
Why Does Trauma Lead To Addiction?
Any type of trauma can cause a condition called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Accidents, terminal illness, seeing a loved one pass away, parental neglect, sexual assault, natural disasters, serving in the Armed Forces – they are just some examples of traumatic experiences that can lead to a person suffering PTSD.
PTSD can cause:
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Repeatedly reliving traumatic experiences in your mind
- Thinking you are hearing sounds from past events
- Feeling horrible sensations relating back to the traumatic event/ events
A person who has experienced trauma may not have PTSD, but may suffer from symptoms such as agitation, anxiety, irrational or erratic behaviour, mood changes, avoiding triggers for trauma and issues maintaining positive relationships (to name a few).
Having trauma and not treating it with talking therapies and other medical support, can lead to a person being unable to move past their trauma and traumatic experience in a healthy way. They may turn to various unhealthy behaviours to cope, and commonly that can be alcoholism and/ or drug abuse. Drugs and alcohol can literally be used as a way to escape the emotions relating to trauma as a type of self-medication.
Another reason that trauma can lead to addiction is the likelihood of a person echoing or copying unhealthy behaviours they saw during their childhood. Genetically, you can be predisposed to be more likely to develop addictive struggles if your parents did, and behaviourally it can be more likely, too.
The Importance Of An Individual Rehab Plan
Struggling with addiction doesn’t automatically mean that it stemmed from trauma, and experiencing trauma doesn’t automatically mean that you will struggle with addiction. However, the two often do come together, in which case a dual-diagnosis of PTSD and addiction is often suggested because they are both disorders that are coexisting together, and need to be treated as such, rather than as unrelated conditions.
This is why an individual rehabilitation plan is so important. Addiction is never as simple as a physical detox. The physical detox is important, medically, but often the hardest work comes with psychological aspects of a programme, because you need to address the root cause of the addiction and process it.
Infinity Addiction Solutions is dedicated to treating each patient as an individual, ensuring that lots of one to one and group therapy is provided, so that any root cause of the addiction, including trauma, is correctly recognised and treated. With the right rehabilitation plan you can have the immense support and professional help you need to process your trauma and learn to cope with the associated emotions in a healthy way.
Call Infinity Addiction Solutions For Help With Your Trauma & Addiction Struggles
If you feel your addiction may have stemmed from trauma, call Infinity Addiction Solutions to discuss the various rehabilitation options available to help you. With private detoxing, online rehab, one to one sessions with experts and more, you have a really strong chance of overcoming your addiction and learning to cope with your trauma in a way that is not destructive and potentially deadly in the way that addiction can be.
Call our friendly team today for a chat about your needs, and for instant access to exceptional, trusted trauma and addiction recovery services. You deserve a healthier, happier life free from addiction, and without trauma robbing you of your future prospects. One call to Infinity Addiction Solutions today and you can begin your journey to trauma and addiction recovery, and the better life you truly deserve.
