 I'll never be the same again. There's a real psychological reason why you feel like you're not the same person after you experience a traumatic event. And it's not all just in your head. According to psychology, trauma can actually change your brain. So much so that rehabs UK explains that trauma can cause changes in your brain structure and function, increasing your risk of developing an addiction. To understand how this can happen, what types of traumatic events can trigger addiction and what you can do to heal? Keep watching. Before we get into the different types of trauma and how they can lead to addiction, it's important to disclose that just because someone's trauma can lead to addiction, it doesn't mean it will. Trauma doesn't ensure you will have an addiction. Rather, we want to bring awareness and education of the relationship. Emotional trauma. Lady Gaga once said, I was trying to block out the memories, but here they were again. Like movie clips in my head playing over and over again. It can feel like you can't escape your trauma. Like it lives inside of you. This is because traumatic experiences are stored in your body and your subconscious mind, explains any tenacious yarn, doctor or psychology. It can make you feel trapped in your own body. Green Hill Addictions Recovery Center explains that these feelings can lead someone to use substances to try to escape the pain or as a means to silence it. Physical trauma. Physical trauma like surgery, surviving a car crash or escaping a physical abuser can result in physical wounds that may need medication. And a commonly prescribed medication to help treat physical pain is opioids. But a danger with opioids is they can be highly addictive because not only do they activate your reward center, they slow your production of endorphins, making your prescription less and less potent. The Mayo Clinic explains that one reason opioid addiction is so common is that people who develop tolerance may feel driven to increase their doses so they can keep feeling good or even just to get back to baseline. Childhood trauma. Sometimes you don't know your childhood was a traumatic one until much later in your life. You knew what you went through scared you, but how could you have known it wasn't right? You were only a child. Author and pediatrician Nidine Burke Harris in her book The Deepest Well mentions the most common outcome of childhood trauma as the inability to manage your emotional states. You were often left on your own to deal with the scars, which made your brain more susceptible to needing self soothing through substances. Renowned addiction expert Dr. Gabor Mate explains the dopamine and opioid circuits the limbic or emotional brain, the stress apparatus, and the impulse control areas of the cortex are not able to develop normally in such circumstances. The use of substances might numb the pain, help deal with PTSD, or escape traumatic childhood memories. Brain trauma. When trauma is extremely overwhelming to your nervous system and you feel so much at once, it's not uncommon to experience emotional detachment leaving you feeling completely numb. Trauma can change the neural pathways in your brain, says addictions counselor Dean Tara Borrelli. Not only that, trauma can produce a dysregulated stress system, which can make individuals more vulnerable to addictive behaviors, explains Amanda Giordano, professor of counseling, specializing in addiction at the University of Georgia. Just like trauma can lead your brain to addiction, healing can lead your brain to recovery. Brains can change, brains can heal, and so can you. Through professional help, you can rewire your brain and create a new life for yourself. The life you have always been deserving of. Did you find this video helpful? If so, please share it with others so they can find support through it as well. Don't forget to like and subscribe if you haven't already, and most importantly until next time remember, you matter.