In this paper, the nature of emotional trauma, the role it plays in addiction, and how to better cope with it will be explored. The word trauma is used a lot, perhaps too much. So, what is trauma? To many, trauma is measured on a continuum called the stress trauma continuum (STC) (Angus, L. E., & Greenberg, 2011). The STC begins with normal stress. Every human experiences normal stress; it is unavoidable. For example, driving in heavy traffic could definitely cause an individual normal stress. A hard day at school or work is also categorized as normal stress. Many people cope with normal stress with relaxation (Cerci, D., & Colucci, E., 2018). The second category in the STC is situational stress, which is when stress becomes a little more intense but does not last for a long time. An example of situational stress is a medical procedure. It may be very stressful, but it is going to end at some point; it has an end date. When an individual is experiencing situational stress, they often seek outside help – friends, family, and professionals (Dayton, T., 2000). Lastly, the third category in the STC is traumatic stress. One of the most widely regarded forms of traumatic stress is combat. Traumatic stress affects a person’s worldview or how safe they feel. For individuals engaged in combat and out of the front lines of battle, simple relaxation is not a suitable coping mechanism (Cerci, D., & Colucci, E., 2018).
Keywords: trauma, stress, normal stress, situational stress, traumatic stress
Literature review
As described in the Bedard-Gilligan, M., Garcia, N., Zoellner, L. A., & Feeny, N. C. (2018) study, there are two different kinds of trauma: shock trauma and developmental trauma. Shock trauma, which is trauma caused by danger to life or bodily safety, often overwhelms the ability for an individual to cope. Also, when shock trauma is inflicted, a person is unable to bring their body and mind back into balance even when the traumatic event is over. Examples of shock trauma include sexual assault, war combat, being stalked, and many more. On the other hand, developmental trauma is more complex than shock trauma because it does relate to one specific event. Developmental trauma is the chronic misalignment between a child and the child’s primary caregiver. The misalignment is often caused by abuse, neglect, or other harsh adversity that disrupts the attachment. An example of developmental trauma is a child who grows up in an alcoholic home. For instance, if the child’s father is constantly under the influence of alcohol, how can the father possibly be aligned with the child in terms of being a proper parent (Bedard-Gilligan, M., Garcia, N., Zoellner, L. A., & Feeny, N. C., 2018)?
When discussing trauma, it is important to notice the prevalence of it in the United States today. The Bethell, C. (2014) study suggests that nearly half of children in the United States have experienced at least one childhood trauma that has affected their development in a negative way. This translates to a steep 34 million children nationwide who have experienced abuse, neglect, etc. (Bethell, C., 2014). Also, according to a PTSD Alliance study, an estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. These statistics are alarming. The thing about trauma is that it impacts numerous parts of a being. First, the neurobiological changes that happen in the brain are profound. In other words, the neurotransmitters in the brain’s structure change under traumatic stress, particularly in children and adolescents because their brain is still under development (Chu, T. & Lieberman A., 2010). If a child’s brain is still developing and they experience a traumatic event, the brain starts wiring around that trauma, which is then an example of a traumatized brain. This example of trauma has a very serious impact – it affects the way the child will view the world and other people, especially if the trauma was interpersonally based.
Another part of the brain that is heavily affected by trauma is the autonomic nervous system (ANS) (El-Sheikh, M., Keiley, M., Erath, S., & Dyer, W. J., 2013). The ANS is the part of the brain that allows automatic bodily functions to happen, such as digestion, heart-rate, respiration, among many more. Because of trauma, the ANS can become stuck on high-alert or low-alert. When the ANS is stuck on high-alert, the individual will experience hyperactivity, hypervigilance, anxiety, anger, rage, and irritability. When the ANS is stuck on low-alert, symptoms such as depression, numbness, and disconnection will appear. These symptoms then start to appear as adaptations. These adaptations include acting-out, substance abuse, alcohol abuse, and more. If an individual’s ANS is stuck on high-alert, how is that individual going to feel after a couple of beers? Probably better than they did before. Of course, that good feeling is short term. But, obviously, alcohol does not stay in an individual’s system for long. When it leaves, the individual often feels more anxious than before. The individual then resorts to more alcohol to solve that problem. On the other hand, if an individual’s ANS is stuck on low-alert, what will they turn to? Stimulants – methamphetamine, adderall, and cocaine to name a few. That is the pattern of addiction (Kendall-Tackett, K., 2009).
Trauma and substance abuse go hand-in-hand because people are trying to cope with their trauma with the tools at their disposal. Substance abuse can definitely occur on its own, but often times there is an underlying trauma that people are attempting to regulate. Other adaptations include self-harm, eating disorders, and engaging in high-risk behavior. When an individual is disconnected or disassociated with the world, they often resort to self-harm (cutting) in order to feel something (Sansone, R. A., Sellbom, M., & Songer, D. A., 2018). When a wound is inflicted, an individual starts to release endorphins. Often times, individuals are not self-harming for attention, they are trying to solve a problem – they are trying to regulate their ANS, consciously or subconsciously, without any knowledge of how to do it in any other way.
History cannot be reversed which means these traumatic events cannot and will not go away. What can be rewired, though, is the brain (Berkman, E. T., 2018). There is now a list of various regulation strategies to regulate the ANS after trauma. The first two practices include meditation and mindfulness. It has been proven that meditation and mindfulness practices can increase neuronal volume in the prefrontal cortex. The thicker and more robust the prefrontal lobe is, the less influence our brain stem (which causes impulsivity and liability) has on our actions (Park, Y. C., & Pyszczynski, T., 2017). The next practice is yoga. A slow and conscious meditative yoga focusing on breath and movement helps regulate a high-alert ANS because it calms it (Nguyen-Feng, V. N., Clark, C. J., & Butler, M. E., 2018). Another regulation practice listed is simply learning new things. For example, when an individual learns to play an instrument, the individual is stimulating new neural connections that are not traumatized neural connections. The new neural connections are thus replacing the old traumatized neural connections.
One question that remains is how an individual who has not experienced trauma can effectively help an individual suffering from trauma. There are many answers but a select few are highlighted in a study completed by Kirkner, A., Relyea, M., & Ullman, S. E. (2018). First, the individual can begin by simply believing the victim; not trying to talk them out of it and not trying to convince them that it was something else. Secondly, the individual can understand that the symptoms that the victim is showing are adaptations to the trauma. Thirdly, the individual can encourage the positive regulation skills such as yoga, meditation, mindfulness, etcetera. Also, if the victim is a close family member or a loved one, the individual who has not experienced trauma may want to seek out support for themselves because they are now a secondary trauma survivor (Kirkner, A., Relyea, M., & Ullman, S. E., 2018).
Conclusion and Future Study
This paper examines the nature of trauma, the close relationship between trauma and addiction, and various positive practices that can be used to cope with trauma as well as regulate the autonomic nervous system. In order to move forward with this problem, it is important to recognize that symptoms such as substance abuse or irritability stem from a much larger issue than many acknowledge. It is crucial that professionals key in on the underlying root of the problem rather than trying to tackle the symptoms head-on.