the notion of self in the journey back from addiction

#The notion of self in the journey back from addiction full#

Refusing help, or unable to reach out for helpĬommonly, depression and anxiety get in the way of recovery.Thinking patternsĬertain aspects of personality and specific behaviors can also present as a blockage to recovery. You can learn more about the link between childhood trauma and addiction here. These issues lead many to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares, feeling very anxious and difficulty sleeping. Trauma can create a variety of long-term mental health problems, including PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). So, why does this happen? What is the connection between childhood trauma and addiction? Well firstly, traumatic events shape you. 3 Results suggest that lifetime trauma and childhood trauma play an important factor in addiction over what can be accounted for by stress. 2Īnother study found the severity of childhood trauma, incidents of lifetime trauma, and current experienced stress to be higher in opioid-dependent patients than in healthy controls. A national survey in the U.S., for example, found that women’s experience of sexual abuse in childhood to be an important risk factor for later substance abuse, psychopathology and sexual dysfunction. Numerous studies show that childhood physical, sexual and emotional abuse (childhood trauma) is strongly linked to substance abuse and early onset alcoholism. Most people who turn to excessive and/or persistent use of alcohol or drugs do so to suppress painful emotions – to escape. The common blocks to addiction recovery include: Unresolved childhood traumaĪddiction is only the tip of the iceberg. That is why addiction recovery must always include psychiatric support. It is the mental/emotional side of addiction that requires the most work. But at this stage, the real work has only just begun. The 3-month hurdle is a challenging one – when a person looks and feels physically better, it is easy to think they are cured. Within a space of 3 months on a recovery programme, a person can begin to look extremely well again. For substance and alcohol addiction, usually, the physical body, with the right support, can recover quite well. But the road to recovery is far from linear.

#The notion of self in the journey back from addiction full#

The blocks to addiction recoveryĪddiction recovery is a process where the things that block a person from reaching their full potential are addressed and rebalanced. The same pathway is involved for non-substance addictions, such as gambling, compulsive shopping, internet gaming, sex, exercise, eating etc. The ‘reward’ pathway is involved in drug addictions of all kinds-not just addiction to alcohol, or illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine, but also addiction to tobacco, and even caffeine. At this stage a person can develop a disinterest in other pastimes that would normally trigger a dopamine response, such as hobbies or other day-to-day activities a person normally enjoys.Īnd so, addiction continues in a cycle – to enjoy anything, to get a dopamine ‘hit’, the addict must have their craving satisfied. Then comes dopamine ‘tolerance’, which means the body needs more of it to function normally. The desire to experience euphoria triggers cravings, especially when specific cues are encountered, such as being at a party or hanging out with certain groups of people. Dopamine reinforces the brain’s association between certain things and feelings of pleasure, driving a person to seek those things out again in the future. This reward system releases the neurotransmitter dopamine along with other chemicals. 1 These actions happen in the brain’s limbic system – the part of our brain that is involved in our behavioral and emotional responses. Addictions center around alterations in a single pathway in the brain, commonly known as the ‘reward’ circuit. How addiction works – the dopamine pathwayīefore exploring the blocks to recovery, it’s important to understand how addiction works, and how it interferes with brain function. This blog explains some of the common blocks to addiction recovery and shares some important self-help strategies for the journey back to health. That’s why choosing the right addiction treatment programme is essential. Even when a person commits to addiction treatment, there are lots of potential triggers during the recovery journey that can lead to retraumatisation and relapse. Without early intervention, addiction can be a hard beast to break. The road to recovery can be long, painful, and fraught with relapses, especially without the right support. Addiction is a chronic psychiatric disorder with many potential causes.