In the second part of this series, Black Press Media explores why some British Columbians are reaching for substances 91裸聊视频� at a time when overdose deaths have hit record highs 91裸聊视频� in order to find temporary relief or pleasure.

From a homeless person openly shooting heroin in Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 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 91裸聊视频� a history of trauma.

Langley filmmaker Brian MacDonald, 61, who by the end of the 91裸聊视频�90s was in the throes of addiction, was consuming more than an ounce of heroin a month.

He puts it bluntly: 91裸聊视频淭rauma equals addiction. In my experience, it91裸聊视频檚 over 90 per cent of the people have sexual abuse in their stories, physical abuse, alcoholic families, so on.91裸聊视频�

MacDonald recently revamped his award-winning documentary 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� 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.

PART ONE:

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.

91裸聊视频淎 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,91裸聊视频� MacDonald said, adding that meeting with his father brought the trauma to 91裸聊视频渢he forefront of my consciousness.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淗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 91裸聊视频� the spinning in my head.91裸聊视频�

As heroin91裸聊视频檚 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 wasn91裸聊视频檛 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 he91裸聊视频檇 used drugs 91裸聊视频� his trauma 91裸聊视频� had been 91裸聊视频渕odified.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭he will to go back into it is just not there anymore. It really dissolved.91裸聊视频�

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White Rock psychologist Jennifer Mervyn, who is a leader in the field, says every client she91裸聊视频檚 worked with who suffers from addiction shares a common thread 91裸聊视频� they91裸聊视频檝e experienced trauma in their life.

She describes trauma as any stressful life experience, perceived or otherwise, that keeps a person91裸聊视频檚 nervous system hyper-aroused for six weeks or longer.

91裸聊视频淏ecause that91裸聊视频檚 when we shift our baseline. It91裸聊视频檚 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,91裸聊视频� Mervyn said.

Drugs allow people to escape that stress, she added.

91裸聊视频淵ou want to run away and substances give us this chemical shortcut that allows us to get to that place really quickly,91裸聊视频� Mervyn said.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 never sustainable and it91裸聊视频檚 not long-acting, but for that short, brief moment, they can escape their body and their brain91裸聊视频檚 response to the toxic stress they91裸聊视频檝e experienced in their life.91裸聊视频�

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 didn91裸聊视频檛 dispute his comments, he said.

Officers validating his feelings gave him 91裸聊视频渉uge strength91裸聊视频� to be more open about his experience.

91裸聊视频淚 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.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檒l never forget that.91裸聊视频�

In next week91裸聊视频檚 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.