Understanding The Trauma-Addiction Cycle In Women
The irony of knowing something is killing you and consciously choosing to return to it is a cycle anyone struggling with addiction knows well. We ask ourselves, “why can’t I just stop?” “Why does everything feel like too much and at the same time, not enough?”
The short answer is pain. Unresolved trauma = pain. And drugs and alcohol makes for a great antidote to pain; until it doesn't.
How the Trauma-Addiction Loop Starts
There is something that a lot of women battling addiction share. Trauma. Nearly 80 percent of women seeking treatment for substance abuse report a history of trauma. For some women, it’s loud trauma like assault or physical abuse. For others, it’s quiet. It’s neglect, chronic invalidation, growing up in a house where you could cry and no one seemed to care.
When those experiences aren’t processed and left to fester, they manifest in physical, mental, and emotional ways. They can leave you hypervigilant, afraid, anxious, and full of self-doubt. So you find something that makes your body feel safe again, or numb, or strong, or invisible. And it works for a while.
But then the drink and drugs become a necessity and not an option. And what started as a way to survive, becomes the means of your own self-destruction.
Why Women Get Stuck in This Loop More Than Men
The science shows that women experience PTSD at a rate more than double their male counterparts. This is primarily due to women experiencing different types of trauma and at different ages than men.
Women also experience addiction differently than men. While men generally have higher rates of substance use disorder than women, females progress from initial use into addiction quicker than men. This is a phenomenon known as telescoping and is attributed to a variety of "biological, socioeconomic, psychological, and cultural" variables.
The Science Behind Trauma
Trauma literally rewires your brain. Certain areas of the brain shut down and other areas light up with no rhyme or reason when exposed to traumatic events. That hypervigilance? Your survival mechanisms have been switched permanently into the “on” position. But then you have a few drinks or take a few pills and the drugs temporarily turn it back off.
But then the brain adjusts. And suddenly, you need the substance just to feel okay. That’s the cycle. Trauma causes dysregulation. Addiction promises regulation. And eventually it turns into a nightmare.
The Truth No One Tells You
Your addiction may be a trauma response. It’s certainly not a character flaw.
Recovery is about building the life you’ve never had the chance to live. One where your story makes you stronger, not smaller. Call Grace & Emerge Recovery today to learn how to get started.
