Trauma, Addictions and Cultivating Resilience at Individual and Community Levels

Abstract

Health and/or illness (physical, mental) are not random states that manifest themselves at the level of the human body, the expression of all lived experiences. A person's life cannot be understood only in the context of knowing life events, but also in the context of deciphering the relationships, circumstances, events in which they occurred. Traumatic experiences lived from the first years of life determine a particular path of the one who experiences them. These produce, most or time, true "psychological chasms" and tend to be "filled" with those experiences that produce immediately and, at first impression, the well-being lost following the interference with the traumatic event. Even today, there are two biased views about how addictive behaviors are inserted into people's lives. The first, and most common, view is that a person who has become addicted has made bad choices and, as a result, bears full responsibility for what is happening to them now. The second view regards addictive behavior as a disease, and therefore the disease requires drug treatment. Both perspectives exclude the human element from the dependency equation. Identifying each person's particular developmental niche provides a first step toward understanding, healing and cultivating individual and community resilience for mental health. This article presents on the one hand, a synthesis of some current perspectives regarding the understanding of the trauma-addiction dyad and, on the other hand, proposes some ways to increase individual resilience to preserve and strengthen mental health in the context of family, social and community.