You’re struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). You’re also dealing with a drug habit. How do PTSD and addiction connect? More importantly, how can you overcome both and live sober? Often these questions plague individuals struggling with PTSD as well as those who care about them like their loved ones, friends, and family. Finding answers can be a challenge for not just the individual dealing with PTSD but those looking to help them. Fortunately, Sante Center has the compassionate and experienced counselors and therapists needed to help individuals get to the heart of their mental health issues. At the same time, we offer comprehensive programs addressing all sorts of addiction. When individuals find themselves struggling with substance abuse due to PTSD or develop PTSD due to their use of drugs or alcohol, they need professional treatment so they can heal and recover both physically and mentally.
PTSD is a Psychiatric Disorder That Affects People from All Demographics
You don’t have to be a soldier to suffer from PTSD. This condition can affect anyone that has experienced a traumatic event. Examples might include sexual assault, battery, witnessing an accident, and similar situations. A situation counts as a traumatic event if you experience it that way.
You may feel something to be traumatic even if someone else doesn’t react to it in the same way. It’s frustrating to consider that many people don’t even know that they’re dealing with PTSD. They typically think that this condition is something only people in the military experience. Even so, they deal with the symptoms.
How PTSD and Addiction Connect
You have flashbacks of the event. They come at the most inopportune moments. You fear them since you never know when they’ll happen. These flashbacks may have resulted in some embarrassing situations.
Maybe you’re dealing with intrusive thoughts or feelings. You don’t want to have them. PTSD and addiction connect when you try to quiet these sensations. For example, opioids are typically drugs of choice because they suppress the central nervous system.
That said, many people struggling with this psychiatric disorder abuse more than one drug. Alcohol helps to shed social inhibitions. Stimulants help you get out of bed in the morning. Benzos let you get to sleep.
Treatment for Both Conditions at the Same Time is the Answer
When you have a mental health disorder alongside an addiction, therapists consider this a dual diagnosis situation. In the past, you would have to deal with one condition before you could tackle the other one. Contemporary science understands that this approach doesn’t work well. Both conditions trigger one another, so you need treatment for both concurrently.
At a rehab facility, therapists customize modalities to meet your needs. Examples include:
- Psychotherapy that addresses your mental health disorder in one-on-one sessions
- Pharmacological support to make withdrawal and condition management possible
- Family therapy as a means for reconnecting with loved ones whom you might have distanced yourself from
- Social activities with peers in recovery for the development of coping skills and self-esteem
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps you to approach triggers and stressors with healthy reactions
Enrolling in a Program with a Strong Aftercare Component
Because PTSD treatment deals with a mental health issue, you need a reliable aftercare program. It involves planning, living arrangements conducive to sobriety, and participation in weekly meetings. A relapse prevention plan creates a safety net that offers solutions to possible problems. Typically, it involves therapists, peers, and support groups.
Learn more about how PTSD and addiction affect one another. Next, get help. Doing so is possible at the Santé Center for Healing. Connect with caring therapists today by calling 866.238.3154 now.
