Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition most people associate with soldiers returning from war. It’s true that it affects a growing number of veterans. But did you know that you could be suffering from it, too? Moreover, if you’re looking for drug rehab, you might benefit from PTSD treatment as well.
What Qualifies You for PTSD Treatment
You probably don’t know that you’re dealing with PTSD. It’s a misunderstood disorder. Typically, it refers to your exposure to a traumatic situation. It left you unable to process what you lived through or saw.
It’s immaterial if someone else dealt with the same issue and had no problems. In fact, PTSD isn’t something that affects everyone the same way. Typical situations that can lead to the condition include sexual assault, physical violence, or psychological terror. The third condition is open to interpretation.
If a situation left you feeling terrorized, it’s sufficient to cause PTSD. It depends entirely on your coping skills and the ability to use them. When there’s a disconnect, you can’t process the situation. As a result, you’re dealing with intrusive thoughts and unwelcome emotions.
Why Can PTSD Lead to Substance Abuse
You don’t know that you’re dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, you’re not looking for a psychiatrist to help you with PTSD treatment. Instead, you try to deal with the issue yourself. You feel the stress and have a few drinks to take the edge off.
Alcohol helps you sleep. It numbs you. Opioids, too, keep you mellow and protect you from the emotions. You start regularly using because the substance is now becoming your coping mechanism.
Before long, you have to use the drug just to feel normal. You may up the ante with a secondary substance to continue with the numbing. Now, you’re struggling with addiction. You also still need PTSD treatment.
How Rehab Facility Therapists Help You Deal with Trauma and Addiction
You need intensive trauma therapy. You also need rehab. Excellent facilities recognize that both conditions share a strong connection. Therapists will help you overcome both at the same time.
If you only focus on one problem, you keep the other one going strong. It’ll eventually lead to a relapse. Moreover, if you don’t deal with the drug abuse, you won’t be able to focus on the trauma. To tackle both, therapists use modalities such as:
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR therapy) for dealing with the memory and its associated emotions
- Cognitive behavioral therapy that encourages you to uncover and change dysfunctional patterns in thoughts and actions
- Dialectical behavior therapy, which teaches you to take control of your emotions in situations you can’t influence
- Family therapy that enables your loved ones to heal and learn how to support your recovery
- Addiction education, which provides insights into triggers, relapse prevention, and the disease model of substance abuse
What Happens If You Don’t Get Help
There is a good chance that you become a statistic. PTSD doesn’t go away by itself. Addiction, too, doesn’t all of a sudden stop. Instead, it gets a little worse every day.
Your physical health suffers alongside your psychological well being. It takes a professional intervention to stop the vicious cycle you’re in. However, the situation makes you feel hopeless. You may not feel like you can ever put a stop to the addiction.
That is where you’re wrong. When you undergo simultaneous addiction and PTSD treatment, there is hope for real change. You don’t have to keep on using. Get help from the caring therapists at the Santé Center for Healing by calling 866-238-3154 today.