Is There A Connection Between Mental Health And Addiction Near Freehold?
December 05, 2024
Have you ever questioned what leads to substance use disorders (SUD)? Knowing the answer could enable us to stop and address these disorders. Thankfully, the latest research is enabling us to understand substance use and treat it better. Recent studies have found a powerful bond between substance use and mental illness. If you grapple with a SUD, you may also be facing a co-occurring mental disorder. By being aware of this, you can pursue more beneficial treatment that addresses both mental health and addiction near Freehold.
What’s The Connection Between Mental Health And Substance Use Near Freehold?
In a recent finding, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) determined that around 17 million adults in the United States experience both a mental illness and a SUD. They also learned that teenagers and adults with mental illnesses were more likely to consume dependency-causing substances. This data shows a significant connection between mental health and substance use in Freehold and all of the nation. But how can mental health disorders cause substance use?
How Does Mental Illness Lead To Substance Use?
It’s well known that mental disorders are often challenging to deal with. When not treated properly, your disorder can leave you feeling angry, hopeless, confused, and afraid. You might even feel some debilitating physiological symptoms. This will happen whether you have been diagnosed with a disorder or do not know you have one.
If a mental condition makes your life difficult, it’s understandable you may have been driven to take habit-forming substances to cope. The chemicals cause you to feel better temporarily. They may dull the agony you feel or initiate a “high” that feels good. Under their influence, you might feel more productive and at ease.
When you use dependency-causing substances to handle the symptoms of mental illness, it is called self-medicating. You may utilize these substances to feel temporarily at ease, more energetic, or less distressed. You may also ingest them to alleviate physical pains and discomforts. Self-medication encompasses utilizing substances not ordered by a healthcare professional, such as illegal drugs or alcohol, as well as overusing or misusing prescription medications.
Self-medication usually commences inadvertently. Drinking large quantities of alcohol or misusing drugs looks like a reprieve and a method of dealing with reality. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to cease taking something that leaves you feeling better. Your brain and body become dependent on those chemicals, and you can’t get by without them. What results is a pattern of self-medication that might spiral out of hand and lead to destructive and dangerous behaviors.
Understanding the root cause of your substance use offers a a place to start your recovery. Once you understand that mental illness exists at the foundation of your substance use, you can treat both and have a stronger likelihood of recovery.
Will Substance Use Affect Mental Health Too?
The influences of mental illnesses and substance use disorders can be cyclical. The chemicals in addictive substances alter brain pathways. They can lead to or aggravate mental illnesses. The stress of losing your life to addiction can also prompt mental conditions like anxiety and depression. In return, you may rely on drugs and alcohol even more to get by, and the cycle repeats.
Why Manage Mental Health And Addiction Together?
Dealing with a substance use and mental illness might sound intimidating, even impossible. But digging into the cause of your substance use is essential for enduring recovery. Once you understand what co-occurring disorder precipitated your substance use, you have a great starting point for treatment. Addressing mental illness with therapy and medication empowers you to resist addictive substances. Various skills you work on in therapy for navigating mental health will serve you in remaining sober, too. You’ll enjoy more success navigating your addiction when you deal with any foundational mental health disorders first.
Get Treatment For Substance Use Disorders And Mental Illness Near Freehold
If you struggle with co-occurring addiction and mental illness, The Counseling Center At Freehold can guide you. Our specially trained staff are equipped to help you manage the obstacles you face with evidence-based treatment. Dial 732-515-4187 or complete our contact form to talk to someone immediately about our intake process.
Author
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, Stephen Cooke brings over a decade of experience in international and American healthcare communications to Praesum. A prolific writer and published author, Stephen has dedicated his career to promoting health and recovery across various organizations.
