In the second part of this series, Black Press Media explores why some British Columbians are reaching for substances 含羞草研究社� at a time when overdose deaths have hit record highs 含羞草研究社� in order to find temporary relief or pleasure.
From a homeless person openly shooting heroin in Vancouver含羞草研究社檚 Downtown Eastside to an over-achieving radio broadcaster with a secret $15,000-per-month problem, in more cases than not, people who suffer from the illness of addiction have at least one thing in common 含羞草研究社� a history of trauma.
Langley filmmaker Brian MacDonald, 61, who by the end of the 含羞草研究社�90s was in the throes of addiction, was consuming more than an ounce of heroin a month.
He puts it bluntly: 含羞草研究社淭rauma equals addiction. In my experience, it含羞草研究社檚 over 90 per cent of the people have sexual abuse in their stories, physical abuse, alcoholic families, so on.含羞草研究社�
MacDonald recently revamped his award-winning documentary 含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社� that tells his story of addiction, and how it took him from being a successful media entrepreneur to trolling the Downtown Eastside looking for a fix.
The self-narrated documentary is a reflection of his life, where MacDonald explains the reason he reached for drugs was to cope with trauma he was once ashamed to talk about.
His first traumatic experience happened when he was three years old, MacDonald said, after his father was upset that he came to the dinner table with dirt on his clothes. His father picked him up and threw him headfirst into the bathtub, he said. Two years later, his dad left the family.
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By the time MacDonald turned 12, he had been sexually abused by an extended family member for two years. He started drinking and smoking weed not long after.
MacDonald kept his trauma to himself and raised a family, while running a successful media business and making a name for himself in the market.
After 25 years of having no contact with his dad, MacDonald looked him up and learned he was living in Seattle. Less than 24 hours after an uneventful meeting with his father, MacDonald tried heroin for the first time.
含羞草研究社淎 file got opened and exploded in my head in regards to what he did to the family, the grief he brought to it and all of that stuff,含羞草研究社� MacDonald said, adding that meeting with his father brought the trauma to 含羞草研究社渢he forefront of my consciousness.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淗eroin is a very powerful drug. It just shuts your emotions down and shuts your physical pain down, shuts your anxiety down. I thought, honestly, for the first three months, I actually found a medication to help what was going on 含羞草研究社� the spinning in my head.含羞草研究社�
As heroin含羞草研究社檚 ability to mask his emotional stress started to fade, he became trapped in a cycle of using and seeking, which eventually drained his bank account and led to the collapse of his professional life and personal relationships.
He wasn含羞草研究社檛 eating, he was frequently sick and fighting infections and had even tried to kill himself.
He was on the edge of death when he reached out to his mother for help. She managed to raise enough money to send him to a treatment centre in Nanaimo in the early 2000s. It would be his ninth and final attempt at rehab.
During 18 months in treatment, MacDonald said he finally addressed his trauma, released it, and forgave his abusers.
However, his resilience was tested a couple years later. MacDonald was in a car accident and required more than a dozen surgeries.
The doctor prescribed him pain killers.
Rather than become addicted once more, he was able to stop once his prescription ran out because the root cause of why he含羞草研究社檇 used drugs 含羞草研究社� his trauma 含羞草研究社� had been 含羞草研究社渕odified.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淭he will to go back into it is just not there anymore. It really dissolved.含羞草研究社�
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White Rock psychologist Jennifer Mervyn, who is a leader in the field, says every client she含羞草研究社檚 worked with who suffers from addiction shares a common thread 含羞草研究社� they含羞草研究社檝e experienced trauma in their life.
She describes trauma as any stressful life experience, perceived or otherwise, that keeps a person含羞草研究社檚 nervous system hyper-aroused for six weeks or longer.
含羞草研究社淏ecause that含羞草研究社檚 when we shift our baseline. It含羞草研究社檚 our cortisol, our adrenaline, our stress response. Once we have practised six weeks of having our heart beat faster, our blood pressure raised, stress hormones at elevated levels, they tend to not shift back down to a normal baseline,含羞草研究社� Mervyn said.
Drugs allow people to escape that stress, she added.
含羞草研究社淵ou want to run away and substances give us this chemical shortcut that allows us to get to that place really quickly,含羞草研究社� Mervyn said.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 never sustainable and it含羞草研究社檚 not long-acting, but for that short, brief moment, they can escape their body and their brain含羞草研究社檚 response to the toxic stress they含羞草研究社檝e experienced in their life.含羞草研究社�
Facing trauma head-on, whether through professional help or otherwise, is a critical step on the pathway to recovery, she added. It gives a person the ability to change the narrative of their trauma story.
The first time MacDonald talked about his trauma was when he walked into a police station in 2001 to report his experience of being sexually assaulted.
Halfway through the police-filmed interview, RCMP officers started to emotionally break down, they showed that they believed him and didn含羞草研究社檛 dispute his comments, he said.
Officers validating his feelings gave him 含羞草研究社渉uge strength含羞草研究社� to be more open about his experience.
含羞草研究社淚 ended up being this little Amoeba when I walked into the police station and I left 10 feet tall. It really psychologically switched, big time in my head, the shame factor.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檒l never forget that.含羞草研究社�
In next week含羞草研究社檚 third and final instalment of this series, Black Press Media explores how stress caused by COVID-19 could result in a wave of new people suffering from trauma, and how this might be prevented.
