Chemical Addiction in Intimate Relationships: The Neurobiology of Trauma Bonding and Emotional Dependency
Abstract:
The neurobiological reinforcement of trauma
bonding and emotional dependency in intimate relationships is increasingly
being understood as a process, as opposed to a purely psychological pattern.
This review integrates evidence on fifteen peer-reviewed articles to
investigate the interaction between dopaminergic reward systems,
oxytocin-mediated bonding systems, cortisol-induced stress responses, and
reinforcement-learning processes to maintain maladaptive attachment despite the
occurrence of relational inconsistency, conflict cycles, or intermittent
affection. The key goal was to combine the results of addiction neuroscience,
attachment theory, and trauma psychology to have a single explanation of the
continuity of the emotionally dysregulated relational bonds. Five major
databases were searched in a structured literature search, and 612 records were
located; 15 records were included in the study that was analyzed using thematic
synthesis based on reward processing, attachment neuropeptides, HPA-axis regulation
and cognitive-emotional conditioning. Findings indicate that trauma bonding is
the result of a vicious cycle of increased dopamine-based reward sensitivity,
oxytocin-based trust and emotional proximity, cortisol-related hyperarousal,
and attachment-based cognitive distortions. These interdependent systems
produce the addiction-like patterns of stress, relief and reconnection that
strengthen emotional dependence in spite of misery. The review finds that
trauma bonding is a neurobiological phenomenon that is multisystemic and needs
to be addressed with trauma-informed and neurobiologically oriented therapy in
order to be effectively treated. More studies are required to develop specific
clinical resources and models that would help to overcome these complicated
relational dynamics.
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