Understanding How Anxiety Can Affect Addiction

Many different things can affect addiction and recovery. There are a lot of reasons that someone may turn to substances to cope with struggles in their lives. Addiction is a disorder that often requires medical help to work through and recover from. Oftentimes substance use disorder (SUD) may coincide with mental health diagnoses. People who struggle with their mental health may turn to substance abuse to cope with the difficulties that their mental health causes them. Anxiety and anxiety disorders can affect addiction, and cause someone to spiral. Understanding what anxiety is and the best way to treat it will help you understand how to manage your anxiety. West Coast Recovery Centers offers treatment and information on anxiety disorders and the best way to cope with them.

Anxiety can show up in many different ways. Different anxiety disorders can cause a lot of struggle in many different areas of life. Anxiety can make it difficult to connect with others and can be very isolating. When people turn to substances because of anxiety, it can be to quiet the anxiety in their minds. This can become an unhealthy coping mechanism that is very difficult to break. Treating substance abuse means also treating the underlying issues such as anxiety. 

Understanding Anxiety

Medlineplus.gov states that anxiety is, "a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness." Anxiety can be a common emotion to feel in unsure situations, but when it is a constant feeling of dread, it can form into a disorder. This disorder can affect someone in every area of their lives. Anxiety can be an irritating thing to experience that can turn into panic. When you are stuck struggling, you may want to turn to something to help numb the feelings. 

Anxiety is a constant feeling of worry, which often causes someone to spiral through thoughts. These loud thoughts can be difficult to deal with on your own. This is why some people turn to substance abuse to handle their anxiety. This substance abuse can quickly spiral out of control when someone uses substances to cope. If you're struggling with anxiety, getting diagnosed and getting treatment can be integral in staying sober and staying clean. 

Common Anxiety Disorders

Different kinds of anxiety disorders can be treated with therapy. Understanding anxiety disorders will help you to understand yourself. While these disorders are all different, they have an underlying connection through anxiety that causes interruptions in someone's life. This underlying feeling of unease causes struggles in every area of life. Understanding how anxiety disorders work will help you understand the best method of treatment. 

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a form of anxiety disorder in which anxiety affects the person day-to-day. This anxiety can spiral out of control and develop into thought patterns that are difficult to break for an individual. Another form of anxiety disorder is panic disorder, which is when the anxiety grows into panic attacks. These attacks can cause someone to resort to drastic measures to escape anxiety and panic.

Social anxiety causes people to have difficulties in dealing with others, which may stop them from reaching out when they need help. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes constant anxious obsessions that explode into compulsive behaviors. All of these forms of anxiety disorder require treatment and therapeutic intervention from a professional. If these disorders are left untreated, people may turn to substances to escape their anxieties. 

Understanding How Anxiety Affects Long-Term Sobriety

At West Coast Recovery Centers, we treat mental health alongside addiction. We are fully equipped to handle treating anxiety disorders alongside helping you work through your addictions. Clinical staff can help you find the right psychiatrist and therapeutic intervention to work with your anxiety. Alongside your program for working past your addictions, your care will be integrated to make the best long-term difference for you. 

Long-term sobriety is only possible if you know how to handle it when you experience cravings or come across your triggers. Substance use disorder (SUD) is not just physical dependence. Once you work through the physical addiction to the substance with a provider, you have to work through the underlying mental issues. There is a reason that something triggered you into drug usage. Therapy can help you work through this issue. If you struggle with anxiety, you may need other healthy coping skills to handle these issues. 

Anxious thoughts can be difficult to work through if you don't have healthy coping skills to work with. Therapy gives you the tools you need to continue what you learned once you leave treatment. Having something healthy to fall back on when feelings are overwhelming will help you stay away from substance usage. Relapses happen when people are overwhelmed with emotion and have nowhere to turn. When this happens with anxiety, it can feel overwhelming. 

Different things can affect addiction and recovery. Sometimes people who struggle with anxiety turn to substances to help quiet their thoughts. While in the moment substances can help to numb the thoughts, in the long run, it will create a vicious cycle that is hard to break. It is important to have healthy coping mechanisms to fall back on when the anxiety is overwhelming. Anxiety can cause people to isolate and avoid treatment, but getting treatment is important. Treatment can help to work through anxiety while also working to stop the problems with addiction. If you are interested in learning more about how anxiety can affect addiction, call West Coast Recovery Centers at (760) 492-6509.