Dual Diagnosis Treatment for Mental Health and Addiction

Many people who struggle with addiction and substance use disorder (SUD) also struggle with mental health disorders. When someone struggles with their mental health, they may not know how to cope with it. This need to find a way to handle the difficulty of the symptoms and stressors makes people struggling with mental health susceptible to addiction. Substances may seem like an adequate way to block out the challenges of their disorder, but they can quickly escalate to SUD. West Coast Recovery Centers understands the importance of connecting people who deal with addiction and mental health to competent dual diagnosis treatment to get them on the track for recovery. 

Treatment is integral to those who struggle with dual diagnosis because of the difficulty of staying sober while working through underlying mental health issues. It is important to get into treatment to help you stay sober and give you the right resources to work through dual diagnosis. Therapy will provide you with the skills that you need to work through your struggles and get your mental health diagnosis under control. It is essential to understand the different options you have for dual diagnosis treatment.

Understanding Dual Diagnosis Treatment Options

There are many different treatment options for individuals with dual diagnosis. Oftentimes, treatment will start with rehabilitation work to get you off of substances. This can be done inpatient, or with providers that can help you through detoxing and with symptoms of withdrawal. Once you are clean of substances, therapeutic work can begin. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) can be used to help manage cravings. A prescriber can work with you to curb cravings and find a medication that also helps with mental health diagnoses. 

MAT can also assist with different mental health symptoms. Therapy can also give you the skills you need to cope with difficult times. Working with a therapist allows you to understand your mental health and get to the bottom of difficult memories and feelings. Meanwhile, many different forms of treatment can help with dual diagnosis.

West Coast Recovery Centers aims to offer effective treatment for all our clients. Different outpatient programs will work with various clients by giving them the necessary tools and coping skills. If you need a higher level of care while remaining outpatient, there are options such as intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization. Both programs allow our clients to meet providers daily while still going home afterward. This allows people the opportunity to practice their skills as they live and work at home. 

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Importance

Both addiction and mental health disorders can have severe risks if left untreated. If addiction spirals out of control, individuals are at risk of overdosing or even death. Mental health disorders can get worse in isolation, and symptoms can be exacerbated without help. Treatment gives you the best chance of long-term recovery and a healthy lifestyle. 

Having a mental health and SUD provider will give you the skills that you need to avoid slipping back into unhealthy habits. The goal of long-term recovery is to prevent relapses and stay in a healthy state of mind. Relapse happens when there is no intervention in mental health struggles. Relapse often starts far before the actual usage of the substance, which is why having treatment to teach you what to do once you feel those cravings is important. 

It is possible to stay healthy and avoid drugs, but it is integral to receive dual diagnosis treatment to do so. Isolation and unhealthy coping with the symptoms of mental health issues will exacerbate the need to use substances. Treatment can give you the skills to stay clean and healthy. Without treatment, it is difficult to stay sober and stay on track to take care of yourself.

How Mental Health Affects Addiction

The connection between mental health and addiction is studied to be integral to getting treatment. Getting treatment is important because of the way that SUDs and mental health disorders affect each other. When someone struggles with mental health, they are at risk of turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms to get through the stresses of their disorder. 

When someone is struggling with their mental health, they are more likely to use substances to escape from their feelings. Mental health can also affect how people process information and make decisions. When you are under stress, you may be more likely to make decisions that you wouldn't make normally. Mental health disorders make you more susceptible to addiction because of lower inhibition and lower impulse control that mental health can cause.

Due to their struggles with mental health, it may be harder to stop using substances as a coping mechanism. This can cause substance use to spiral into addiction. It is also possible that SUD can cause symptoms of mental health disorders to worsen. Struggles with addiction may manifest as symptoms similar to mental health disorders, which can worsen previously existing stress. It is important to find adequate dual diagnosis treatment. 

Many people who struggle with addiction and substance use also struggle with their mental health. Substance use disorders can affect all parts of mental health struggles. Mental health symptoms can be exacerbated by substance usage and grow into something that needs to be managed with treatment. Treatment will give individuals the skills they need to healthily work through their stressors and underlying mental health while avoiding substance use. People who have dual diagnoses need to find healthy manners to handle their stress and treatment providers that they can trust. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment for dual diagnosis, call West Coast Recovery Centers today at (760) 492-6509.