#emptyness

Addiction - also called trauma bonding

What is addiction in lay terms? Compulsively repeating an action / behavior.

We can be addicted to anything. Alcohol, sex, porn, drugs, books, reading, work, studying, a person (which is considered love nowadays).

Yeah, that is right. Society looks down upon alcoholics while look up upon workholics. But when closely inspected both these people have an underlying issue. The alcoholic prejects it in a destructive manner manner while the workholic projects it in a manner that is considered productive by the society. Either way addiction is destructive.

When someone feels a void / emptiness from within, that person looks for something to get attached to and thus escape from reality. This object of attachment varies from alcohol to books.

Why and where doed this emptiness come from?

That is where trauma comes into play. Trauma - does not need to be losing a limb / losing a loved one or getting into a disasterous accident.

The ‘trauma’ I here is small, subtle things that accumulate over time. The neglects, the hate speech etc.

For eg. You are 3 years old, you make a handwork out of papers and you show it to your mother brimming with pride. But you do not receive the appreciation you expected or worse, you are called off. There you go, this is a trauma - neglect.

Sometimes, it need not be repeated or continuous. A single isolated incident might have a profound impact even in your adult life. In the above incident, that particular incident might cause you reluctant to express your creativity there after.

Whether we like it or not, whether we recognize it or not, a large proportion of us are from dysfunctional families, where abuse is the norm. Where children are brought up on the basis of fear and control - not love.

Along the course of life, we lose ourselves and emptiness invades us.

Most of us are lost and empty than not.

It is very important to create awareness of mental health in this era.