Sunday, November 9, 2008

Stress, Trauma and Addiction - How are they related?

Many struggle with past trauma which may stem from past or present abuse, the death of a loved one or even the loss of a job. Any and all of these are situations that can result in chronic stress feelings, anxiety and/or depression.

If we don't recognize how life impacts us, we will grab hold of whatever we can find to make ourselves feel better. As I mentioned before some will grab hold of destructive things that cripple us emotionally and mentally and keep us from living a fulfilled life.

In my last blog I talked about exercise as an effective way to release stress. Yet sometimes, we need a few more tools to enable us to heal from our hurt, the pain that runs deep within us. That's where learning how to address negative thoughts that effect feelings and behaviour are the key to moving through our pain. We aren't designed to just "get over it" we must work through our stress, our pain, our trauma.

To choose not to do the kind of work that may require professional support e.g. group therapy, psychologist, The Life Recovery Program http://www.liferecoveryprogram.com , marriage & family therapist, social worker, psychotherapist etc... may ultimately result in you engaging in behaviours that result in addictions.

Remember how addiction was defined in my previous blog, "any behaviour you cannot stop that has destructive consequences." Think about it. Stress, pain, trauma, heartache ... what's driving your addiction?

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