These days, you can always hear about someone or the other struggling with substance abuse or coping with different types of trauma. Trauma and addiction are both very pressing issues. But what about nuances like their complex relationship? What forms can both trauma and addiction take? What are the differences between them? Let’s find out.
Trauma
Trauma is how people react to really upsetting or disturbing events that are too much for them to handle. It makes people feel helpless, makes them lose their sense of who they are, and makes it hard for them to feel their emotions.
Trauma happens when a single event or multiple events hurt or scare someone. It can affect many parts of a person’s life for a long time. What’s interesting is that how people feel after a trauma can be very different and depends more on their reaction than the event itself.
Trauma can be categorized into two types: “big T” and “little t.”
“Big T” traumas are extreme situations, like terrorist attacks or natural disasters, that cause a lot of stress and helplessness. “Little t” traumas are everyday events that can still deeply affect someone, like moving, divorce, or work stress.
Trauma can hurt a person’s mental health, causing emotional ups and downs, flashbacks, relationship problems, and even physical issues like headaches or nausea.
It’s interesting that adults who had trauma as kids might have different brain connections, making it hard for them to handle stress.
The good news is that treatment can help people heal from trauma and process their experiences in a better way. If you’ve experienced trauma, remember that you did your best to survive, and your feelings are normal and expected.
Addiction
Addiction is a complicated problem, to say the least, where people feel a strong need to use drugs even when it causes harm. It’s a lasting sickness that affects the brain’s systems for reward, motivation, and memory. Many things, like genes, environment, and development, can cause addiction. It’s often tied to substance abuse, but it can also be about behaviors like gambling or using the internet too much.
Addiction can cause serious problems, like health issues, money and relationship troubles, and legal issues. To treat addiction, people usually use a mix of medicine, therapy, and support groups.
How Do Trauma and Addiction Differ?
Trauma and addiction are closely related, and people who have faced trauma are more likely to develop addiction. Trauma can lead to addiction when people use substances or behaviors to deal with emotional pain and distress. Addiction is when someone depends on a substance or behavior, causing bad results.
Addiction is a lasting condition that affects the brain’s reward system, making it hard to stop using the substance or doing the behavior even when it’s harmful. Addiction can involve things like drugs, alcohol, gambling, or too much internet use.
So the main difference between trauma and addiction is that trauma is a response to a very upsetting event that’s too much for someone to handle, while addiction is depending on a substance or behavior that causes bad outcomes.
Not everyone who goes through trauma will develop an addiction. Trauma can be treated with therapy and support, while addiction usually needs therapy, medicine, and support groups. It’s important to understand the link between trauma and addiction and to get the right help and support for both issues.
About ASIC Recovery
ASIC Recovery’s treatment programs aim to offer men and women in early sobriety the responsibility, structure, empathy, and assistance needed to face and transform past habits. Their clients embark on a personalized journey towards self-realization and create a fulfilling life through a 12-Step program with tailored support. Their Fort Worth facility provides an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for individuals dealing with substance abuse issues and they offer a variety of recovery services to support those who are seeking help for drug or alcohol addiction.
For more information, visit Asic Recovery Services
