Man in blue sweater squeezing bridge of nose knows he needs mental illness treatment at rehabPhrases about addiction like “drowning your sorrows” and “numbing your pain” provide examples of the mentality behind addiction with accompanying mental illness. In these examples, people use the abused drugs or alcohol to self-medicate problems. When mental illness exists, addiction treatment without mental illness treatment only puts a bandage on a bigger wound. For healing of both problems and to avoid relapse, you need the right treatment for your co-occurring conditions.

What is Dual Diagnosis Mental Illness Treatment?

With a dual diagnosis, your doctor identifies your substance abuse problem and your mental illness at the same time. You have two disorders that require treatment. These co-occurring conditions are two separate conditions working together in a cycle of illness.

Having a dual diagnosis may give you the right solution for your addiction. Through dual diagnosis, you gain a clear picture of treatment needs. For healthy recovery, all you have to do is treat both of your problems. Without a dual diagnosis, recovery of only one condition leads the other to relapse in a continuing cycle.

A dual diagnosis recovery program is your biggest hope. It provides addiction therapy with mental illness treatment at the same time. Using therapies, relapse prevention skills, life skills education and possibly medication, your mental health improves. You learn why you started abusing drugs or alcohol, the effect of your mental illness on your addiction and how to maintain complete wellness.

Does Everyone in Addiction Rehab Need Mental Illness Treatment?

In your rehab program, you will see that mental illness and addiction go hand-in-hand. As humans, we crave feeling happy, strong, healthy and productive. When mental illness strikes, we lose those good feelings but don’t always know why.

Substance abuse provides a temporary fix, making you feel euphoric, social, empowered and smart while the drug is in your system. For the period of that high, you feel much better than in sobriety. So you go back to your substance again and again for these positive feelings, sinking into addiction. Sadly, this self-medication is a trick of false perception. You crash after your high and find an inability to function without your drug.

Some people don’t suffer mental illness before substance abuse. But as part of long-term addiction, a shift takes place in their mental wellness. This is how isolation, avoidance, anxiety, depression and the chemical changes of drug or alcohol abuse cause depression, anxiety, and other mental conditions.

Regardless of whether your addiction or your mental condition comes first, both require treatment. With the right addiction and mental illness treatment, you can enjoy the happy, productive, and healthy lifestyle you’ve never experienced before. That is why a dual diagnosis program provides so much hope for people with co-occurring conditions.

What Mental Illness Treatment Do You Need Alongside Addiction Treatment?

Any type of mental illness increases the risk of substance abuse and addiction. But some conditions occur more commonly than others. Some of the most common mental conditions in addiction include:

  • Schizophrenia
  • Depression, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia
  • Anxiety disorders, OCD, panic disorder and PTSD
  • Borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and impulse control disorders
  • ADHD and eating disorders
  • Process Addictions

People suffering mental illness and addiction often abuse marijuana, alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. Prescription painkillers, anti-anxiety medications, and sedatives are also drugs of choice for self-medication. But these drugs only make problems worse.

Santé Center for Healing Addresses Dual Diagnosis Addiction Treatment

Your addiction is unique to you. You are also unique in whether you have a co-occurring condition, what that condition is, and what treatment it requires. There is no “one size fits all” approach or a magic wand for lasting recovery.

At Santé Center for Healing in Argyle, Texas, caring professionals understand your unique needs and use an individualized treatment plan for the best chance of long-term sobriety. You deserve that best chance. Santé provides that chance through a whole person approach with experts in the field.

Programs Santé Center for Healing include:

Call Santé Center for Healing now at 866-238-3154 for more information about what we can offer you for recovery. You deserve complete, whole-person wellness. Mental health services and substance abuse treatment can make you whole again.