When you’re struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, you may be questioning how it all started. For many, the answer is trauma. Because unresolved past trauma is often the root cause of substance abuse, it’s key to treat trauma alongside your addiction. But what does trauma even look like? Let’s take a look at the 3 types of trauma that could be driving your addiction.
Understanding Trauma
Trauma at its core is your emotional response to an event that causes you to feel physically or emotionally unsafe. Some examples of these events can include:
- A loved one’s passing
- War
- Sexual, emotional, or physical abuse
- A serious accident
- Crime
- Experiencing or witnessing violence
- Natural disasters
In the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, you may experience denial or even shock. However, the effects of your trauma can persist well after the event itself ends. These lingering effects are considered emotional trauma, and may produce symptoms such as:
- Intrusive memories and flashbacks
- Hypervigilance
- Concentration difficulties
- Emotional numbness
- Persistent fear or anxiety
- Avoidance behaviors
- Mood swings
- Stomach aches, headaches, or other unexplained physical issues
On a macro level, emotional trauma can result from one major traumatic event (also known as Big T trauma) like an assault or armed robbery. But it can also arise from ongoing smaller traumatic events (known as Little T trauma) such as racism, chronic illness, or bullying.
The 3 Types of Trauma, Explained
Trauma, like addiction, doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone, damaging your emotional, mental, and physical well-being. However, the experience of trauma can vary. Because of this, the mental health community has categorized these experiences into three different types of trauma: acute, chronic, and complex trauma. And understanding each type of trauma can help you make sense of the negative feelings you’re experiencing, as well as better cope with your trauma moving forward.
Acute Trauma
Of the 3 types of trauma, acute is the most straightforward. It’s defined as a singular traumatic event or occurrence, such as a car accident, natural disaster, or sudden loss of a loved one. According to StatPearls, studies show that 20 to 90% of the general population will experience at least one extremely stressful event in their life associated with acute trauma.
When you experience acute trauma, your brain shuts off functions that aren’t associated with your survival, going into self-preservation mode until the event subsides. While this helps you survive a dangerous experience, the fallout of acute trauma can generate lingering issues, such as:
- Increased anxiety and panic
- An illogical distrust of others
- Disassociation of your surroundings or other people
- Struggling to sleep
- Irritability, anger, and rage
Chronic Trauma
Rather than one major event, chronic trauma is a type of trauma associated with several smaller traumatic experiences over time. Chronic trauma examples include racism, ongoing abuse, bullying, and domestic violence. Because this type of trauma is ongoing, you’re more prone to seek out drugs, alcohol, and other unhealthy coping mechanisms to self-medicate. Though symptoms of chronic trauma are similar to acute, they can also include:
- Anxiety
- Confusion and sadness
- Low self-esteem
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Denial
- Unpredictable emotional outbursts
- Flashbacks
- Distorted memories
Complex Trauma
Complex trauma is typically the most complicated (as you would expect) among the main 3 types of trauma. It’s associated with experiencing several different, yet related traumatic events for an extended period of time. Beyond these experiences however, complex trauma’s definition also incorporates the resulting challenges you deal with as a survivor of these experiences. Consequently, complex trauma can generate severe psychological and emotional distress.
Like chronic trauma, complex trauma arises from ongoing experiences like poverty, neglect, or bullying. But what separates complex trauma from the rest is the fact that it’s usually caused by repeated interactions with specific individuals over extended periods of time. In many cases, complex trauma is inflicted by people you know, such as close family members.
The Different Types of Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences
Though your addiction may be caused by one of the different types of trauma, the traumatic events themselves may have actually occurred long ago in your childhood. Known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), these events happen between the ages of 0 and 17. Examples of ACEs include:
- Divorce
- Neglect
- Having an incarcerated parent
- Witnessing a family member treated violently
- Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
- Living with a substance abuser
- Living with someone with a mental illness
When you go through ACEs as a kid (and the resulting types of trauma), the experience can harm your physical and mental health well into adulthood. This childhood trauma, if left untreated, can lead to a number of long-term consequences, such as obesity, low self-esteem, and addiction (which is why you may be reading this now).
Overcome Your Addiction and Type of Trauma at Sana at Stowe
Addressing your underlying trauma can finally be the step you need to heal and get sober. That’s why we utilize trauma-informed care in our New England-based addiction treatment programs at Sana at Stowe. If you’re ready to achieve long-term recovery, contact us today.
