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Is There A Connection Between Mental Health And Addiction Near Monmouth Junction?

December 05, 2024

Have you ever questioned what causes substance use disorders (SUD)? Finding the answer could give us the ability to stop and manage these disorders. The good news is, modern research is providing insights that increase our comprehension and refine care. Recent studies have found a powerful link between substance use and mental illness. If you are struggling with a SUD, you could also have a co-occurring mental disorder. With this knowledge, you can seek more effective treatment that navigates both mental health and addiction near Monmouth Junction.

What’s The Connection Between Mental Health And Substance Use Near Monmouth Junction?

In a recent report, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimated that around 17 million adults in the U.S. have both a mental illness and a SUD. They also found that adolescents and adults with mental illnesses were more prone to take habit-forming substances. This data indicates a noteworthy connection between mental health and substance use in Monmouth Junction and throughout the nation. But how can mental health disorders cause substance use?

How Does Mental Illness Result In Substance Use?

It’s well known that mental disorders are often challenging to deal with. If not managed effectively, your disorder can make you feel confused, fearful, angry, and despondent. You could even feel some crippling physiological symptoms. This will happen whether you have been diagnosed with a disorder or do not comprehend that you have one.

If a mental condition makes your life difficult, it’s no wonder you may have been driven to use habit-forming drugs or alcohol to deal with it. The chemicals make you feel better for a brief period. They might give you a “high” that feels good or dull the discomfort you have. When using, you might feel more balanced and capable.

When you take addictive substances to handle the symptoms of mental illness, it’s referred to as self-medicating. You may ingest these substances to feel temporarily at ease, more energetic, or less troubled. You may also use them to deal with physical aches and pains. Self-medication includes utilizing substances not recommended by a doctor, such as alcohol or illicit drugs, as well as excessive use or misuse prescription medications.

Self-medication usually commences accidentaly. Drinking too much alcohol or excessively using drugs may seem like a release and a method of coping with reality. Regrettably, it’s challenging to quit taking something that makes you feel better. Your brain and body become dependent on those chemicals, and you can’t survive without them. What results is a pattern of self-medication that can spiral out of control and lead to unsafe and damaging actions.

Understanding the root cause of your substance use provides a starting point for recovery. Once you realize that mental illness exists at the core of your substance use, you can treat both and have a stronger likelihood of recovery. 

Does Substance Use Influence Mental Health Too?

The impacts of mental illnesses and substance use disorders are frequently cyclical. The chemicals in dependency-causing substances modify brain chemistry. They can trigger or intensify mental illnesses. The distress of losing your life to addiction might also prompt mental conditions like anxiety and depression. In return, you might rely on alcohol and drugs even more to manage, and the cycle starts over.

Why Manage Mental Health And Addiction At The Same Time?

Facing a substance use and mental illness could feel overwhelming, even hopeless. But getting to the origin of your substance use is essential for lasting recovery. Once you recognize what co-occurring disorder precipitated your drug or alcohol use, you have an excellent foundation for treatment. Managing mental disorders with therapy and prescription medicine gets you in a better frame of mind for resisting addictive substances. Various skills you develop in therapy for handling mental health will help you remain sober, too. You’ll have more success managing your addiction when you deal with any underlying mental health disorders first.

Get Treatment For Substance Use Disorders And Mental Illness Near Monmouth Junction

If you are facing co-occurring addiction and mental health disorders, The Counseling Center at Monmouth Junction can help. Our specially trained staff know how to help you navigate the challenges you encounter with proven treatment. Dial 732-605-6353 or submit our contact form to speak with someone at once about our intake process.

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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.