The Buddha famously said, “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” Many people forget this reality, especially individuals who struggle with comorbidities of addiction and mental illness. Now, the good news is that these feelings of love and affection are always available. The key is to connect to the right recovery center and the right type of treatment.
Better Understanding Addiction
Many people don’t realize just how prevalent addiction is. This is especially true in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “In 2022, 48.7 million people aged 12 or older (or 17.3%) had a substance use disorder (SUD) in the past year, including 29.5 million who had an alcohol use disorder (AUD), 27.2 million who had a drug use disorder (DUD), and 8.0 million people who had both an AUD and a DUD.”
It is also important to understand that addiction is a disease. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences. The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. These brain changes can be persistent, which is why drug addiction is considered a ‘relapsing’ disease – people in recovery from drug use disorders are at increased risk for returning to drug use even after years of not taking the drug.”
The reality is that relapses are more common than many people may think. According to the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychiatry Reports, “It has long been known that addictive disorders are chronic and relapsing in nature. Recent estimates from clinical treatment studies suggest that more than two-thirds of individuals relapse within weeks to months of initiating treatment.” Also, “For 1-year outcomes across alcohol, nicotine, weight, and illicit drug abuse, studies show that more than 85% of individuals relapse and return to drug use within 1 year of treatment.” These relapses are also significantly more common among people who struggle with comorbidities of addiction and mental illness.
Better Understanding Mental Illness
As with addiction, mental illness is also very common among people in the U.S. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “Mental illnesses are common in the United States and around the world. It is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (59.3 million in 2022; 23.1% of the U.S. adult population). Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe.”
It is also important to understand that mental illness is not a monolith. There are many different types of mental illnesses. These include anxiety disorders, depression, and schizoaffective disorder. There are also many other questions regarding mental health. According to SAMHSA, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices…. Mental illnesses are disorders, ranging from mild to severe, that affect a person’s thinking, mood, and/or behavior.” Mental illness also commonly co-occurs with addiction.
Better Understanding Comorbidities of Addiction and Mental Illness
Many people don’t realize just how common comorbidities of addiction and mental illness actually are. According to NIDA, “7.7 million adults have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders…. Of the 20.3 million adults with substance use disorders, 37.9% also had mental illnesses. Among the 42.1 million adults with mental illness, 18.2% also had substance use disorders.”
It is also important to understand that addiction and mental illness are both “diseases.” Many people are under the misconception that they are some sort of moral failing or “choice.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. Addiction and mental illness have more in common with other chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes than they do a choice.
Because they significantly affect more people than just the individual who is struggling, addiction and mental illness are also “family diseases.” They affect everyone involved. This is why many people refer to addiction and mental illness as “tornadoes that destroy everyone and everything in their path.” However, just as the family may be the most affected, they also have an opportunity to have the greatest effect on whether or not a loved one is going to get the help that they need. But, to do this, the family must know the signs and the symptoms to look out for.
The Signs and Symptoms of Addiction and Mental Illness
Of course, the signs and symptoms of addiction and mental illness are always going to vary based on the individual. However, one can look out for many universal signs and symptoms of addiction and mental illness. The following are just a few of those signs and symptoms:
- Experiencing physical ailments such as headaches, body aches, and gastrointestinal problems
- Feeling anxious, nervous, or overly “stressed out”
- Having feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness
- Not being able to stop once starting drinking or using
- Having trouble with sleep cycles, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough (hypersomnia and insomnia)
- Losing interest in activities once enjoyed
- Isolating away from family and close friends
- Experiencing trouble at work or school
- Loss of appetite and a lack of care regarding physical appearance and wellbeing
- Exhibiting excessive mood swings
- Causing harm to oneself or others
- Having suicidal ideations
Now, many people can minimize addiction and mental illness, or falsely categorize them as that previously mentioned “choice.” However, as one can see, these signs and symptoms are significant and can be deadly. This is why reaching out for professional help as soon as possible is vital. Doing so could mean the difference between short-term side effects and long-term consequences.
The Causes of Addiction and Mental Illness
There are also many causes of addiction and mental illness. For example, genetics is now understood to have a large influence on addiction. According to the Psychiatric Clinics of North America, “Genetic and environmental influences modulating the risk of SUDs change developmentally and across the lifespan. In a longitudinal twin study, Kendler and colleagues found that gene effects in alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine addictions were low in early adolescence but their relative importance gradually grew in adulthood. In contrast, the effect of family environment declined from childhood to adulthood.”
There are also other causes of addiction and mental illness. This includes familial influences, such as having a parent or sibling who struggles with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or substance use disorder (SUD). It also includes environmental factors. There is evidence that shows increases in addiction and mental illness in lower economic areas, as well as among certain populations. Such populations include combat veterans and the LGBTQIA+ community. Now, the good news is that no matter the origins, there are many effective means, methods, and modalities that can help one recover from issues of addiction and mental illness.
The Benefits of Day Treatment for Addiction and Mental Illness
There are many effective programs for addiction and mental illness. The key is to find the right one that works for the individual. This may be residential addiction and mental health care if the symptoms are more severe and require 24/7 attention. However, for many people, day treatment is the ideal form of recovery.
Many people are under the misconception that day treatment is less intensive than residential care. This is simply untrue. Day treatment often requires the individual to engage in recovery eight hours a day, five days a week. It also often requires regular alcohol and substance testing and attendance at 12-Step recovery meetings. Day treatment also utilizes many of the same recovery modalities used in residential care. This includes psychotherapies like dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
Recovering From Addiction and Mental Illness With Psychotherapy
Psychotherapies like DBT and CBT can be particularly effective because they help get to the underlying issues that often cause addiction and mental illness. For example, it is important to remember that addiction is about much more than simply picking up the drink or the drug. It is about what causes the individual to pick up that drink or the drug in the first place. This is why many people in 12-Step recovery say, “It is more about the thinking than it is about the drinking.”
CBT can also be highly effective because it focuses on “symptom reduction” and makes the individual an “active participant” in their own recovery. According to the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, “Consistent with the medical model of psychiatry, the overall goal of treatment is symptom reduction, improvement in functioning, and remission of the disorder. In order to achieve this goal, the patient becomes an active participant in a collaborative problem-solving process to test and challenge the validity of maladaptive cognitions and to modify maladaptive behavioral patterns…. Although these strategies greatly emphasize cognitive factors, physiological, emotional, and behavioral components are also recognized for the role that they play in the maintenance of the disorder.”
DBT also offers some very specific benefits for recovery from addiction and mental illness. One of the reasons is that it focuses on “skills training.” According to the peer-reviewed journal Psychiatry (Edgmont), “If the skills learned in therapy sessions do not transfer to patients’ daily lives, then it would be difficult to say that therapy was successful. As a result, a second critical function of DBT involves generalizing treatment gains to the patient’s natural environment. This function is accomplished in skills training by providing homework assignments to practice skills and troubleshooting regarding how to improve upon skills practice.” Other effective treatments include experiential therapies.
Recovering From Addiction and Mental Illness With Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapies focus on “experiences” rather than conversation (though this can be a big part of the process). There are many types of experiential therapies. This includes art therapy and nature immersion therapy.
Art therapy offers a myriad of benefits, especially for individuals struggling with mental illness. According to the peer-reviewed journal Cureus, “Art therapy is used most commonly to treat mental illnesses and can aid in controlling manifestations correlated with psychosocially challenging behaviors, slowing cognitive decline, and enhancing the quality of life. [It] can help people express themselves more freely, improve their mental health, and improve interpersonal relationships. The basis of art therapy is established on the idea that people can recover and feel better via artistic expression.” People can also feel better via nature.
Nature immersion therapy has been shown to offer many benefits for individuals struggling with addiction and mental illness. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Besides improvements to physical and psychological well-being, exposure to natural environments has been shown to bring about positive impacts on cognitive functioning…. While cognitive restoration and physiological well-being are the prominent and renowned benefits of nature exposure, there is one important construct that is often overlooked in environmental psychology research studies – that is, the human-nature relationship; also known as connectedness to nature (CN).” This CN can also be found in many holistic healing methods.
Recovering From Addiction and Mental Illness With Holistic Healing Methods
Holistic healing methods like yoga and mindfulness meditation have been practiced for thousands of years. Originally, they were solely religious or spiritual practices, but they have since moved into the realm of addiction and mental illness recovery.
The benefits of yoga therapy are vast and varied. According to the International Journal of Yoga (IJOY), “Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions. Yoga therapy involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional, and spiritual pain, suffering, or limitations. Yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.” Meditation also offers similar benefits.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to be particularly effective at helping with emotional regulation regarding addiction and mental illness. According to the International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda (AYU), “During the process of meditation, accumulated stresses are removed, energy is increased, and health is positively affected overall. Research has confirmed a myriad of health benefits associated with the practice of meditation. These include stress reduction, decreased anxiety, decreased depression, reduction in pain (both physical and psychological), improved memory, and increased efficiency.” Other holistic healing methods include massage, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and reiki.
Recovering From Addiction and Mental Illness With Northstar Recovery Center
Here at Northstar Recovery Center, we believe in long-term recovery over short-term “fixes.” This is why all of our treatment plans are individualized and comprehensive with a focus on the future.
The Buddha also famously said, “Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” This guidance is what one gains from recovery, and the wisdom comes from putting in the work.
Recovery is out there. The key is to go out there and get it. There is hope. We can help.
Many people don’t realize just how common the comorbidities of addiction and mental illness are. The reality is that many people who struggle with addiction end up acquiring some form of mental illness. Also, individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses are more likely to end up struggling with some form of addiction. If you feel like you or a loved one is struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, we can help get you on the positive path toward long-term recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this process alone. For more information about comorbidities of addiction and mental illness, and how best to recover, please reach out to Northstar Recovery Center today at (888) 311-0911.