Mental health and addiction often go hand in hand, influencing each other in multiple ways. Although this relationship can vary for each individual, several key factors explain their interconnectedness.
First, there is a precondition that often, people with mental disorders will self-medicate using substances to manage their conditions or treat their illnesses. Stress and other feelings that are considered sharp and unbearable can lead to the usage of a substance, but this automatically results in dependence.
At Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre in Pune, we understand that substance use can result in the emergence of a mental disorder or the worsening of a pre-existing one. Drugs and alcohol are also known to impact brain tissue, leading to various diseases such as depression, anxiety, or psychosis. Finally, the effect of addiction on an individual includes social breakouts and financial and legal problems, which are all social factors that can greatly affect the mental health of an individual.
Addiction and Mental Health: The following are the common co-occurring disorders:
The correlated nature of mental health and addiction leads to many difficulties in various mental health issues.
In other words, a dual diagnosis or comorbidity means the co-existence of a substance dependence or abuse and a mental disorder in a given client. The term co-occurring is used for this purpose to make it quite clear that both illnesses exist side by side and more or less appear to follow a cycle as far as the seriousness of symptoms is concerned.
Mental Health and Addiction: What Is the Connection?
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders and addiction are usually comorbid, one disease influences and worsens the other in patients. There are several types of anxiety disorder like GAD, Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and specific phobia that may be comorbid with SUD.
Comorbidity of anxiety and substance use disorders raise serious consequences for the person’s health, working ability, and treatment response.
Anxiety and addiction are associated with each other in a vicious cycle where they affect each other due to several factors. People who have anxiety issues can use substances to mute the symptoms, although they become dependent on these substances in the process.
One of the effects of substance is the ability to change the chemical balance of the brain therefore having adverse effects on enhancing the symptoms of anxiety and even being a major reason for substance dependence.
Depression
Depression and addiction are interconnected: different states and their effects on people. Depression is also commonly referred to as clinical depression, major depressive disorder, or MDD, and it constitutes a mood disorder characterized by consistent sadness, lack of pleasure or pleasure in activities, and several psychological symptoms.
Depression is an illness of the mind, which makes people susceptible to developing an addiction since substances temporarily help ease the pain endured.
On the other hand, substance use can either worsen or trigger depression because of the formation of new chemicals in the body.
Cohabiting depression and addiction are most often treated with several types of therapy which are aimed at both disorders. CBT is a common therapy that indicates the patient’s ways of controlling depression, dealing with it, and overcoming addictive behavior.
PTSD
Consequently, a comparatively higher incidence of comorbidity of PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and addiction is visibly witnessed more frequently in such individuals. PTSD is a mental health disorder that may develop after one has undergone a traumatic event.
This entails the inability to forget a certain event; development of phobias and aversion to things related to the event; continued reliving of the event through recurring thoughts, distressing images, or dreams; avoiding stimuli that remind one of the events; being extremely alert or jumpy; and having a different outlook on life and inability to think clearly. This mental health issue, plus addiction, is a dual diagnosis or a co-occurring disorder.
Trauma symptoms may lead to substance use as a way of dealing with them. Still, this may turn into dependence, which will interfere with your ability to heal from the root cause of the trauma.
Concerning PTSD and substance use disorders, the treatment method that is most often employed is the dual diagnosis. Some of the types of evidence-based treatment include Cognitive behavioral therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization, and Reprocessing. Thus, both types of therapy can assist a person in gaining insight into experiences that cause pain and productivity for treating patterns of dependence. When required, one can apply medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to treat PTSD and substance use disorder.
Bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder.
The disease also referred to as manic depression has a cycle of depressive episodes and maniac episodes which include extreme mood swings.
Bipolar disorder and alcohol/substance use are interpreted mainly in terms of self-medication and potential substance use cycle which aggravates the primary diagnosis.
Coexisting bipolar disorder and addiction require the client to receive treatment holistically for both disorders at the same time. Both medical and psychological therapies when combined aim at enhancing mental health and treating the disorders related to substance use.
One needs to balance their moods and prescribe medicine and treatment for that and other behavior addictions plus recovery services.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by abnormalities in perception and thought content, which causes hallucinations, paranoid ideas, and thought processes, that is disorganization and cognitive/emotional dysfunction.
It has also been suggested that schizophrenia patients demonstrate a higher incidence of substance use disorders (SUDs) than the Normal populace. Substances can be used as a way of managing overwhelming symptoms or as a form of self-medication hence increasing the potentiality of becoming an addict. Moreover, dependency can worsen the signs of this mental health condition and slow recovery.
Integrated Addiction Treatment: A Holistic Approach
Truly a comprehensive solution for online communication. In light of the comorbidity of mental health disorders and substance dependence, it has become possible to admit that there is a dual diagnosis where both conditions are treated jointly. At Jagruti Rehab Centre in Pune, these approaches require the integration of mental health care workers, substance use disorders workers, and medical workers to address the care needs.
Integrated treatment includes:
- Dual Diagnosis: It entails diagnosis and intervention of the dual disorders with individualized treatment.
- Therapy: Utilizing IMT like CBT, DBT, and EMDR as a technique for handling mental conditions and substance use disorders.
- Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT): To manage the withdrawal of various drugs and their impact on the physique and psyche, Different drugs, and chemotherapy were administered to handle the instance of temptation to undertake drugs Chemotherapy for different mental ailments.
There is a profound interdependence of mental illness and the substance abuse process. It is central to the intended audience of people who want to comprehend the connection between mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Understanding the ‘two disorders together’ picture and a focus on the integration of treatments in helping people move forward in their recovery illustrates the need for an exciting and rewarding direction in the future.
