Trauma-informed services take traumatic events into account to help survivors manage their trauma symptoms successfully, and avoid re-triggering and re-traumatizing, without the use of substances to achieve these goals. For recovery to succeed, a trauma-informed model of treatment is needed to address the physical, psychological, social and neurobiological issues that underlie addiction. Other mental health issues, medical problems, and biopsychosocial factors such as gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status contribute their own influence on health-related risks. Not only is it difficult to treat them separately, but there are other factors that interact with each. In treatment, it is helpful to think of trauma and addiction as “ co-occurring disorders” as both disorders have their own symptoms and neurobiological changes, but also overlap and interact with each other. Temporary relief with mind altering substances leaves behind profound and lasting damage to the brain’s activity and the mind’s expectations for what will restore balance. What may start out “adaptive” in terms of short-term powerful relief, rapidly becomes “maladaptive” as substances bring with them their own destruction of the body’s natural coping resources in lasting ways. Survivors may use substances in efforts to manage emotional distress. Treatment, theory and research support the ways traumatic events become an organizing force shaping how individuals seek physical and emotional safety in efforts to eliminate emotional pain. It makes intuitive sense that survivors of trauma are more at risk for addiction. Written By Hilary Curtis PhD, LMHC, CCATP, CAIMHP November 11, 2020
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