Trauma can happen to anyone. The term does not apply to just one type of experience. Instead, it applies to any situation in which a person experiences something so significant and fearful to them, that they cannot process that information properly. Many people carry trauma with them from their past. Others are dealing with it…
Are you using drugs and alcohol as a key component of your life? Do you struggle to not use because you feel there’s just too much you don’t want to think about, and these substances help you to stop doing so? Childhood trauma and addiction go hand-in-hand. Not everyone who experienced trauma will use drugs…
Many things in life are created around the idea that we, as people, are all cast from the same mold. Some treatment specialists believe our thoughts, actions, and needs are the same as those of the people next to us. This type of addiction treatment leaves us feeling lost or somehow defective when we don’t…
Did you know that teens and young adults often develop complex trauma? Believe it or not, trauma can lead them down the path of drug abuse. Finding ways for them to manage trauma can reduce the risk and even help them avoid relapse. That’s where trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy comes into play. Pairing this therapy…
Transcendental meditation, a technique used to acknowledge and push away distracting thoughts and promote relaxed awareness, has been found to significantly reduce trauma symptoms in female prisoner inmates, according to a new study published in The Permanente Journal. The inmates were taught Transcendental Meditation by certified teachers, and practiced the relaxation technique 20 minutes twice…
Why are some of us prone to addiction — whether alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, or sex — and others aren’t? It’s a complicated question and one that continues to be investigated and debated by scientists and addiction specialists alike. A column written by Daniel Sumrok, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health…
It’s likely not too shocking that trauma and addiction are intertwined. In fact, trauma has been linked with drug abuse as well as with overeating, compulsive sexual behavior, and other types of addiction. And the connection is most profound among the female population: As many as 80 percent of women seeking treatment for drug abuse…