What Are the Differences Between Trauma & Addiction? [HuffingtonPost.com]

Over the last couple years, more and more treatment centers have started saying they specialize in “Trauma Informed Therapies.” I marvel over this, as clearly indigenous to substance abuse, mental health and chronic pain is, in fact, trauma. To better understand the link between trauma and addiction, I collaborated with my colleague and friend Dr. James Flowers, CEO of Driftwood Recovery in Austin, TX.

Let’s take a look at this. Larke Huang, Director of the Office of Behavioral Healthcare Equity at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, defines trauma broadly as “a stress that causes physical or emotional harm which you cannot remove yourself from.” Trauma is subjective, meaning what matters most is the individual’s internal beliefs and their innate sensitivity to stress, not whether a family member or therapist or other outsider deems an experience traumatic. We all know people who were in the same combat zone, present at ground zero, have seen a life-threatening event, or who have been bullied and persecuted, etc. will have differing responses. There is a link between emotional trauma (i.e. the increase in the number and frequency of events) and a link to substance abuse.