When addiction and mental health disorders coincide, it can be overwhelming.
It’s important to understand that treatment for both conditions isn’t just about getting clean from drugs or alcohol; it’s also about addressing underlying issues that contributed to your substance use disorder in the first place.
Addiction treatment alone might not be enough if you have a co-occurring mental health condition, and here’s why:
1. Treating mental health issues helps with recovery from addiction.
The relationship between mental health and addiction is a complex one.
Addiction can cause or worsen mental health issues, making it harder to overcome addiction.
However, treating the underlying causes of your addiction can also help improve your recovery process.
If you have a mental health issue such as depression or anxiety, this may lead to poor self-care habits (such as drinking too much alcohol) that increase your risk of developing an addiction.
If you’re addicted to drugs or alcohol and are depressed about how much time and energy goes into using them instead of spending time with friends or family members who care about you.
You might be tempted to use even more drugs/alcohol because they seem to be the only thing that makes sense anymore.
2. Addiction and mental health disorders can co-occur.
You may be wondering how someone with a mental health disorder can develop an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
The answer is simple: people with mental health disorders are more likely to develop substance use disorders.
Mental health disorders can cause problems in relationships, making it harder to maintain a job and leading to financial issues that leave you feeling isolated and alone.
This isolation could lead you down the path of using substances to cope with your feelings or dealing with stressors in life, which then leads back into furthering the cycle by developing an addiction problem.
3. The most important thing is to get help for both conditions.
It’s not uncommon for people with mental health problems to also struggle with addiction, and vice versa.
For example, someone with depression may be more likely to develop an alcohol problem to cope with their sadness and feelings of hopelessness.
Or individuals with anxiety might use drugs or alcohol to escape their worries and stressors.
Likewise, people with substance use disorders (SUDs) often experience symptoms related directly or indirectly to their SUD.
These include depression or anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder, and dissociative identity disorder (DID).
So it’s important that you attend treatment programs that offer services specifically addressing both conditions simultaneously rather than separately.
4. Addiction treatment alone may not be enough to address your mental health needs.
You may need additional support or therapy to heal from the trauma you experienced during your addiction, which can make recovery more difficult.
For example, if you have depression or another condition that makes it difficult for you to focus on recovery activities like attending group meetings or going to therapy sessions, this could interfere with your ability to make progress in treatment.
If you feel like your addiction is hampering your ability to deal with your other issues or vice versa, it might be worth considering treatment for both at once.
If you’re interested in getting help for both addiction and mental health issues, plenty of options are available.
Learning about different treatment options can help clarify which one might be best suited for your situation–and what outcomes they have on the brain over time.
5. Find a program that offers support for both your addiction and your overall mental health needs
When you’re ready to get help for addiction, make sure that you find a program that offers support for your addiction and overall mental health needs.
The best programs provide access to individual therapy, group counseling, and medical care. Hollywood Hills Recovery Center offers all of these therapy methods.
These holistic approaches can be more effective than simply addressing one issue at a time because they allow patients to explore their issues in multiple ways.
This is important when dealing with something like addiction or depression, where there are often many underlying causes that need to be addressed for recovery from either condition to occur successfully.
Conclusion
If you think you may be struggling with both addiction and a mental health disorder, it’s important to get help as soon as possible.
The sooner you start treatment, the better off you’ll be in the long run. But we understand this isn’t always easy, especially if you don’t know where to begin or feel overwhelmed by everything in your life.
