自我医疗是应投灾的一种危险的自我治疗形式

People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly use or abuse drugs and/or alcohol. This self-treatment with substances, known as self-medicating, may help to explain the high rates of substance use disorders among people with PTSD.

The high rate of co-occurrence between PTSD and substance use has caused researchers to take interest in better understanding the relationship in hope of developing more effective, targeted, treatments.

Substance Use as Self-Treatment

物质使用障碍更有可能遵循开发区的开发，建议在某种程度上提高了人们对物质使用问题的风险。

关于PTSD和物质使用之间的关系的一个主要理论是人的毒品或酒精使用是因为他们逃避或麻木的愿望distressing symptoms of PTSD。这被称为自我药物。

Researchers have found specific relationships between certain PTSD symptoms and the types of substances used. For example, the severity ofhyperarousal symptoms of PTSDis strongly connected with the use of substances that have a depressant or anti-anxiety effect, such as alcohol or大麻。

Other Theories Regarding the Relationship Between PTSD and Substance Use

It's important to note, however, that self-medication is not the only theory as to why PTSD and substance use is related (however, this theory has the most evidence to date).

除了自我药物之外，PTSD和物质使用障碍之间的其他可能的连接包括：

• Using substances may increase the chance someone will experience traumatic events, which in turn could lead to the development of PTSD.
• Some people may have an underlying genetic vulnerability for developing both substance use disorders和PTSD。

Consequences of Self-Treating PTSD With Substances

如果您转向毒品或酒精（或两者），当您正在处理PTSD时，它可能最初可以帮助您感到不那么痛苦。然而，在长期的情况下，自我药物会导致许多严重的问题。

Additionally, if you have PTSD and a substance use disorder, you're at increased risk of experiencing a number of negative consequences, such as:

• Depression
• 关系问题
• Anxiety
• 法律问题
• Medical problems
• Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization
• Suicide attempts

Getting Help Instead of Self-Treating PTSD

People with PTSD want to alleviate the distress that results fromsymptoms，但物质使用不是答案。已经开发出用于PTSD和物质使用障碍的专门处理，可以帮助人们应对。

One popular and well-established treatment is寻求安全, which can people understand the relationship between PTSD and substance use. It can also provide additional skills for managing distressing PTSD symptoms, which will decrease a person's reliance on drugs and alcohol to cope.