Trauma and Addiction

Trauma and Addiction
By Gary W. Reece, Ph.D.


There are many consequences that follow an experience of trauma.  One of the more common reactions often goes unrecognized because it takes a while to develop and as a result people fail to make the connection.  Following a traumatic experience there is a relatively high probability that a person will develop one or more addictions.

It has particularly been noticed in certain high risk professions such as first responders, police, fire fighters and soldiers.  In one study done after the Oklahoma City bombing, they noted a higher than usual number of  individuals who developed addiction, there were also a high number of suicides, divorces and related symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.  There were other high risk behaviors also noted such as thrill seeking, gambling, and other self-destructive behaviors.

There are many reasons for the development of an addiction.  Some individuals  are more risk prone because of such factors as a family history of addiction, hence you would be at greater risk.  Or being in a high risk profession where individuals are exposed daily to danger. There are also personality types who are more vulnerable, particularly those that are considered Macho so that a person is thought to be weak if he exhibits any kind of weakness such as an open display of emotion.  Men are more prone to this because we are expected to be strong, and that means we do not show weakness, feelings,  neediness, or vulnerability.

The dynamics of trauma make us particularly vulnerable to addiction because the experience itself subjects us to “an overwhelming event which exposes us to violence, harm, or death and renders us helpless in response to it."  Furthermore, during that experience we are hit with a shock, a surge of emotions which are too great to handle.  It is this shock wave of overwhelming terror, fear, or horror which immobilizes our psychological defenses so that in the initial stage we experience a state of numbness, shock and helplessness.  This is a natural psychological reaction to shut down when too many painful feelings come all at once.

What most people do not realize is that we are at the highest risk psychologically right after the traumatic event.  What we do to cope is critical.  The people most vulnerable are those who are isolated:  do not have a good social support group and have difficulty experiencing painful feelings.   This is particularly true in single event traumas.  In the case of the military or law enforcement, these individuals experience a different kind of stress.  They are exposed daily to a variety of stressful experiences, many of them do not rise to the level of trauma but fall into the category of multiple, chronic stressors.  High stress over a long period can lead to addiction as the individual begins to gradually use substances to help deal with the tension, fear, frustration or helplessness attendant to the profession.

The dynamics of addiction are relatively simple to understand.  It is a simple law of learning.  If a person experiences a high level of  emotional or physical discomfort and then by chance does something to cope and experiences immediate relief, this associative connection gets linked.  Pain=relief=positive reinforcement=reliance on whatever “worked”.

In my particular case, for example, I was in a prolonged state of shock and emotional deadness after the sudden death of my daughter and discovered that by going back to work and working long hours I felt better.  I felt the reward of being in control, I could work, be successful and be rewarded by making money.  Hence I became addicted to work.  This helped me feel back in control, powerful, and socially validated.  So, in essence, whatever we do immediately following a traumatic event can potentially be addictive.  If we have poor coping skills then we are more vulnerable.

My poor coping skills were an inability to feel or express strong emotion, difficulty trusting others by exposing my felt fear, vulnerability, weakness, neediness , and helplessness.  I felt so much rage and disillusionment and did not know what to do with it.  So I found great relief in avoiding it all together.

Instead, I found great relief and real magic in buying new Jaguars and Porsches.  About one a year.  The sales men were so glad to see me, I felt so powerful driving off the showroom floor with my new Red XKE roadster.  It felt so good to show off and feel the excitement of driving it.  But the high lasted only about a year and then I had to get a new fix.

There are all kinds of addictions: shopping, sex, alcohol, drugs, affairs, the list is potentially endless.  It is whatever helps us feel better.  Trauma shatters self-esteem, our sense of control, our beliefs, and overwhelms us with painful feelings.  Whatever helps us cope has the power to be potentially addicting.  If it helps us to feel like somebody again, restores our damaged self-esteem, helps us feel less isolated, lonely, afraid, and empty:  in short a shattered lonely nobody, then we have found indeed the magic elixir.  As they say in the addiction community, it is a short term solution which becomes a long term problem.

Addiction, then is a failed attempt to restore the shattered harmony of our lives.  It is a symptom of failed mourning.  I have told many who came to me for therapy that you cannot grieve and practice your addiction.  Overcoming addiction is doubly painful.  First, there is the problem of abstinence-withdrawal, very painful and uncomfortable, requiring a great deal of courage to give it up.  And then there may also be repairing whatever damage we have done to our lives by the addiction.  It took me years to overcome the financial disaster of buying new cars every year.

There was also the matter of a divorce as the cost of my self-indulgences. That was also emotionally and financially catastrophic.  Secondly, in giving up the addiction we then open ourselves up to feeling the grief we have been avoiding.

But the good news is that once I began facing my demons, I was able to begin cring again,  feel the feelings, feel more alive, and that led to being more authentic which enabled me  to genuinely respect myself.  In healing I had to give up my addictions, feel my pain, restore my shattered life, and find authentic ways to feel good about myself.  This route may initially be the harder path, but the rewards are infinitely greater because of the joy and peace that is found in facing the darkest moments of one’s life.  I also found that healing cannot be done alone.  And I might add, it took many years to create a life of meaning and significance with family and friends at the center.