Psychotraumatisms & addictions, the case of the therapeutic apartments at the Centre Pierre-Nicole
Type de matériel :
32
Since the 90s, numerous studies have demonstrated the link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the development of various addictive behaviors. The work presented here provides statistical data to shed light on the link between psychotrauma (PT) and addictive behavior. It is based on weekly interviews with sixty-four people addicted to various psychoactive substances admitted to the therapeutic apartments of the CSAPA Pierre Nicole, an addiction care and prevention center in Paris, between 2016 and 2022. The results confirm the over-representation of people suffering from PT among the population studied, particularly complex PT (+70 percent of women and +45 percent of men), which in the majority of cases correspond to repeated abuse during childhood and within the intra-family setting. Among traumatic events, sexual violence was found to be extremely high among women (+70 percent). The women studied were also more likely to suffer from psychiatric comorbidities (F=28 percent / H=20 percent) and eating disorders (F=25 percent / H=4 percent). Men, on the other hand, have more sex-related addictive behaviors (H=18 percent / F=5 percent) and run-ins with the law (H=12 percent / F=4 percent). This work also highlights the fragility of the social ties maintained by a group of people who, in many cases, cut ties with those around them when they were actively using, and then with their peer group when they attempt to get clean. Nearly a quarter are socially isolated, while half have a social life based almost exclusively on twelve-step fraternities that enable them to build a new peer group around people who share their relationship with drugs. All this points to the need to take better account of PT in the services providing help and care for drug users, not only through the training of professionals, including social workers, but also through systematic tracking (professional software, etc.), which could also enable large-scale data collection on this issue.
Réseaux sociaux