For many people, substance abuse is the result of a traumatic experience in life. Victims of a violent crime or childhood abuse may turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with negative feelings later in life. Individuals may have experienced neglect, domestic violence or other types of trauma in their life. With each traumatic episode, the chances of substance abuse increase.
Self-Medicating With Substance Abuse
There are a number of people with addictions who have suffered from childhood abuse. Individuals may have experienced psychological, sexual, physical or emotional trauma as a child. Once the traumatic experience has happened, negative emotions like guilt, shame, depression or anger often develop. While some people are able to cope with these feelings in therapy, other individuals turn to an addiction as a way out.
Survivors of trauma often use drugs and alcohol to numb the feelings from the traumatic event. They may self-medicate with drugs in an effort to dull the memories and feelings. The intrusive thoughts, flashbacks and distressful memories are too much to handle, so the addicted individuals resort to substance use to dull these feelings.
Ongoing Trauma and Substance Abuse
Once people become addicted to a drug or alcohol, they increase their chances of being victimized. They are more vulnerable to abuse while intoxicated and are less able to cope with the feelings that develop. On average, intoxicated individuals are less responsive to the abuser’s subtle control and abuse. Abusers may even tell users that they deserve the abuse because they are intoxicated.
Domestic violence is especially common in these situations because an addicted individual is less able to spot the signs of abuse and have a safety plan in place. It’s also likely that the batterer will also be addicted to a drug or alcohol. While some batterers become less violent when intoxicated, most abusers are actually more dangerous while high or drunk. Fatalities and domestic violence increase dramatically when the batterer is under the influence.
Getting Help
As stated, many addicted individuals are current or former victims of abuse. When treating an addiction, it’s important to also treat the trauma as well. Over the years, people use drugs and alcohol to cope with negative emotions and memories of abuse. To stop the addiction, patients must find a healthy way to cope with negative emotions.
At our 28-bed center, patients can get help with addiction and trauma-related issues. For you to recover, you must resolve the core problem that contributed to your addiction. Many of our clinicians at the Healing Springs Ranch were trained at the Trauma Institute. Consequently, our staff members are able to work closely with victims of trauma and help them recover.
We believe in a holistic approach to addiction treatment. With this in mind, we focus on all aspects of your physical, emotional and chemical health. Our Integrated Addiction Model includes help with organic nutrition, lifestyle training, assessments and 12-step programming. To find out how we can help your recovery, contact Healing Springs Ranch today at 866-656-8384.