Is There A Connection Between Mental Health And Addiction Near Middlesex?
December 05, 2024
Have you ever questioned what triggers substance use disorders (SUD)? Understanding the answer could enable us to prevent and treat these disorders. Fortunately, current research is giving us insights that heighten our comprehension and enhance care. Recent studies have found a powerful link between substance use and mental illness. If you are struggling with a SUD, you might also have a co-occurring mental disorder. With this insight, you can pursue more beneficial treatment that addresses both mental health and addiction near Middlesex.
What’s The Connection Between Mental Health And Substance Use Near Middlesex?
In a recent report, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) determined that about 17 million adults in the United States experience both a mental illness and a SUD. They also found that adults and adolescents with mental illnesses were more prone to use addictive substances. This data indicates a noteworthy connection between mental health and substance use in Middlesex and the rest of the nation. But why do mental health disorders prompt substance use?
How Does Mental Illness Cause Substance Use?
It’s common knowledge that mental disorders can be challenging to deal with. When not managed properly, your disorder can make you feel confused, fearful, angry, and miserable. You may even experience some debilitating physiological symptoms. This is true whether you have been diagnosed with a disorder or do not comprehend that you have one.
If a mental illness makes your life challenging, it’s no wonder you may have been pushed to take habit-forming substances to cope. The chemicals in these substances leave you feeling better for a brief period. They may provide a “high” that makes you feel good or reduce the discomfort you have. When consuming, you may feel more capable and balanced.
When you use dependency-causing substances to manage the symptoms of a mental disorder, it’s known as self-medicating. You might use these substances to feel temporarily happier, more focused, or less anxious. You might also ingest them to relieve physical aches and pains. Self-medication encompasses using substances not recommended by a physician, such as illicit drugs or alcohol, as well as excessive use or misuse prescription medications.
Self-medication often starts accidentaly. Drinking large quantities of alcohol or excessively using drugs looks like an escape and a method of coping with reality. Regrettably, it’s hard to stop ingesting something that causes you to feel better. Your mind and body become dependent on those substances, and you cannot survive without them. What results is a cycle of self-medication that may spiral beyond your control and lead to destructive and dangerous actions.
Understanding the root cause of your substance use gives you a a place to begin your recovery. Once you comprehend that mental illness lies at the root of your alcohol or drug use, you can address both and have a greater opportunity for recovery.
Can Substance Use Influence Mental Health Too?
The effects of mental disorders and substance use disorders are often cyclical. The chemicals in dependency-causing substances modify brain chemistry. They can trigger or intensify mental illnesses. The strain of losing your life to addiction might also cause mental conditions like anxiety and depression. As a response, you may turn to alcohol and drugs even more to manage, and the cycle starts over.
Why Address Mental Health And Addiction Together?
Facing a substance use and mental health condition might feel daunting, even impossible. But getting to the root of your substance use is essential for lasting recovery. Once you understand what co-occurring disorder caused your substance use, you have an excellent basis for treatment. Managing mental illness with therapy and prescription medicine empowers you to abstain from addictive substances. The skills you work on in therapy for navigating mental health will help you stay sober, too. You’ll be more successful in managing your addiction when you improve any foundational mental health conditions first.
Find Treatment For Substance Use Disorders And Mental Illness Near Middlesex
If you are facing co-occurring addiction and mental health conditions, The Counseling Center at Middlesex is here for you. Our specially trained staff understand how to help you handle the challenges you experience with proven treatment. Call 732-629-9510 or fill out our contact form to converse with someone immediately about admissions.
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.
