Trauma isn’t just a bad day. It’s not a single bad experience that keeps you up at night. Trauma is an emotional and psychological response to a life-threatening or distressing event that is so impactful to you that it overwhelms your brain’s ability to cope. Many types of events contribute to trauma. For some, it leads to substance use, especially if the trauma is left untreated.
At Iron Bridge Recovery Center, we offer comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment in Richmond, VA that incorporates mental health support. If you’re battling an intense and painful history that’s controlling your future, reach out to us for immediate help.
What Is Trauma?
Trauma happens when a person’s sense of safety is challenged. Some type of distressing event occurs, or a series of them, that makes it hard for your brain to understand, process, and manage the condition. There are several forms of trauma:
- Acute traumatic events: Acute trauma stems from a single, intense event, often an isolated occurrence. Examples may be watching a loved one die in a tragic event, a serious car accident, or being involved in a natural disaster.
- Chronic traumatic events: Chronic trauma develops from ongoing, often prolonged exposure to a distressing situation. It often involves situations where there is repeated exposure, such as systemic abuses, bullying, or domestic violence.
- Complex traumatic events: Complex trauma comes from various exposures, including multiple events that happen over a longer period of time, instead of consecutively.
A person who experiences trauma in any of these serious forms may develop debilitating conditions and complex outcomes. Sometimes it’s not obvious that trauma is present. Your brain pushes it away to protect you. Some people don’t know or remember the trauma.
In all situations, trauma is a mental health disorder. It’s often misunderstood, undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed because it’s so varied.
Symptoms of Trauma
The signs of trauma range just as much as the events themselves. What’s unique about trauma is that it’s more than a bad memory. That memory manifests in your life in various ways, including emotionally, physically, and mentally. Examples of common symptoms of trauma include:
- Intrusive thoughts of the event or experience
- Nightmares, often repeated nightmares or difficulty sleeping
- Feelings of shame and embarrassment
- Difficulty expressing emotions
- Hypervigilance, a feeling of constantly being on edge or unsure of your surroundings
- A racing heart and anxiety that’s not clearly explained by events
Many people have debilitating symptoms that impact their ability to build relationships due to a lack of trust or have the confidence to be successful at activities, work, or school. For some, it is this impact that leads to the use of substances.
Why Trauma Leads to Substance Misuse
Trauma is a very real, debilitating feeling. It’s not something you can just forget about and move on from, but instead something that can show up at any time. Trauma triggers intense, difficult emotions. When that happens, many people seek relief by turning to substances. Common substances used to manage trauma include:
- Alcohol: Often used for self-medicating, alcohol is a nervous system depressant. It slows thoughts, quiets your mind, and dulls feelings.
- Cannabis: Many people turn to marijuana to help sleep, manage their hyperarousal state, or reduce the frequency of nightmares and emotion-driven thoughts
- Opioids: Some people turn to opioids for their ability to numb sensations, not just physical ones but also traumatic events.
Other substances, including nicotine, psychedelics, and entactogens, are also often used. They alter the brain’s chemistry enough to help the brain push aside the trauma for a short period of time.
Substances Lead to Their Own Complications
Trauma doesn’t improve when you use substances for more than a short period of time. Once the substance wears off, the thoughts and painful emotions come back. The brain automatically forces you to seek out that substance again and again, all with the hopes of calming the negative thoughts. Addiction develops.
As this cycle continues, the body and brain become dependent on the substance. The original trauma is still there, and the need for ever-increasing amounts and types of substances creates their own complications. Dependency and health effects, including the risk of overdose, occur.
Treatment for Trauma and Substance Use
At Iron Bridge, we offer dual diagnosis treatment in Richmond. This is a treatment program that deals with both the substance use disorder as well as the underlying trauma. You don’t have to relive the trauma, but you can help your brain learn to cope and move away from it. We also provide you with the profound tools necessary to stop addiction’s hold on you.
If you’re facing an endless need to use substances to manage trauma, reach out to us now. Learn more about our addiction treatment program in Richmond, VA today. Contact us now.
