When it comes to addiction, there are many risk factors, but the primary cause involves mental illness. When a person has a mental illness that goes untreated or undiagnosed, he or she is highly likely to turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate. If you’re struggling with addiction, you may have co-occurring disorders. These require treatment in order for you to recover. Both your mental illness and your addiction must have separate forms of treatment for you to live the fulfilling life that you deserve.
How do Co-Occurring Disorders Begin?
Unfortunately, we live in a society that puts a far greater emphasis on physical health rather than mental health. While physical health is important, neglecting education about mental health means a lot of people don’t know what’s happening when mental illness arises. Most people struggle with some form of mental illness at some point in their lives. The issue is that some have a brain that’s prone to lingering symptoms of mental illness that can make life unmanageable.
Common forms of mental illness include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- ADHD
- PTSD
In some cases, it’s difficult to say if the symptoms of mental illness began before or after the person began abusing substances. If you’re experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety while in active addiction, some symptoms may have to do with the substance abuse. At the end of the day, you must address both your mental illness and addiction so you can recover. In treatment, specialists will diagnose your mental illness and teach you how to overcome your symptoms.
Overcoming Co-Occurring Disorders
Aside from being a leading cause of addiction, having co-occurring disorders is also one of the main reasons people relapse. When you go to treatment, you’ll go through dual diagnosis therapy as a way to get your mental health under control. Without the proper tools to combat your symptoms of mental illness, it will be extremely difficult to maintain your sobriety. For example, depression can make you feel miserable, and in order to stay sober, you need to be able to enjoy life.
Treating mental illness can happen in a variety of different ways from medications to more holistic methods. Medical professionals may prescribe certain non-narcotic medications to help your brain begin creating certain neurotransmitters. Other medications can help to calm down parts of the brain responsible for anxiety as well. There are many holistic methods like meditation, exercise and nutrition that are also highly beneficial when it comes to treating mental illness.
Silver Pines Treatment Center Can Help
Here at Silver Pines Treatment Center, we have amazing staff members who have training in helping people who struggle with mental illness and addiction. Here, you’re going to get the personalized care and treatment that you deserve. Additionally, you’ll see that it’s possible to live a better life, and we want to be part of your journey. Some addiction treatment therapies we also use include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Detox Programs
- Dual diagnosis Treatment
- Trauma Therapy
- Individual therapy
- Family Therapy
- Group Therapy
Give us a call today at 267.719.8689 to find out more information about how we can help.
