Psychological Trauma As A Prerequisite For Addiction

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Psychological trauma occurs as a result of severe stress that affects a person. Basically, these are situations that are perceived by the psyche of the body as a threat to life or health. You need to understand that the level of psychological stability is individual. The destructive power of trauma depends on the individual significance of the traumatic event for a particular person. For one, various life events can be perceived as routine or simply a difficulty that can be dealt with, for another, the same situation is traumatic.

Psychogenic factors of trauma

• Trauma of birth or early development - can be obtained in the process of intrauterine development and for the first time in a child's life, when the psyche is not fully formed and there is no stress regulation. In my practice, I have come across such traumatic situations: an unwanted child, difficult childbirth, conflicts during pregnancy and in the first stages of life, early separation from mother and father (due to illness, the child was hospitalized, given for a while under the supervision of relatives, according to due to the forced exit to work, they were sent to kindergarten). The psyche perceives this as a threat or rejection. The satisfaction of the need for security and belonging is violated, and the concepts “The world around me is dangerous”, “I am not needed” are formed.
• Relationship trauma - can be sustained throughout a person's life. Parental divorce, conflicts with peers (at school, with close friends), family problems (destructive relationships), death of a loved one (unlived loss), trauma of an outcast, experiencing physical deformity, breaking up significant intimate relationships. The satisfaction of the need for love and recognition is impaired. Self-esteem decreases: "I am bad", "I am not like others", "I am guilty", "I am not needed."
• Trauma of violence, sexual or physical. Sexual violence includes: sexual intercourse against a person's wishes - rape, incest. Physical violence includes not only direct physical actions in order to suppress the personality. The psyche can perceive serious accidents as an act of violence (car accident, natural disasters, sports injuries, surgery, serious illness, painful childbirth, etc.). An oral threat can also be attributed to a traumatic situation, without physical impact - humiliation.

Is there a link between trauma and addiction?

Trauma, received in childhood or adolescence, affects the further formation of the personality. The emotional-volitional sphere, which is aimed at satisfying the dominant needs, remains underdeveloped, the level of adaptation to society decreases, which leads to an alternative way of regulating the emotional state, i.e. addictive behavior. Through external factors (drugs, alcohol, emotionally significant relationships, shopping, etc.), the subconscious seeks to satisfy its need for security and recognition, belonging, respect and love. Narcotic substances are needed in order to drown out the traumatic experience and the feelings associated with it, help suppress symptoms such as fear, insomnia, etc., remove from the state of emptiness and hopelessness, but do not solve the problem itself.

Psychotherapy

When undergoing rehabilitation, the addict receives a complex of psychological and social assistance: the development of skills for independent life, the development of personal potential, the formation of life goals, the ousting of the drug from the value system. For a resident with psychological trauma, these activities are not enough, and parallel work is needed - psychotherapy. This is a long and hard work aimed at supporting an organism depleted by trauma, restoring psychological boundaries, forming self-regulation mechanisms, completing painful experiences and assimilation. This process is aimed at preventing retraumatization, when there is an opportunity to return to old stereotypes of behavior, namely, to the use of drugs. This assistance is provided by specialists who have a specific specialization in psychology.

A comment

I would like to point out that psychological trauma is not always the cause of addiction. But if a psychologist who is observing the dynamics of a family member “sounded the alarm,” you need to take appropriate measures, namely to take qualified help.

Psychologist RC "Vershina-Bryansk"

Zoya Aleksandrovna Belousova