Last Updated on August 29, 2016
Some people that are addicted to alcohol or alternative substances have what’s called a co-occurring disorder –also known as comorbid disorder and a double illness. This means the individual has a mental health illness as well as habit.
Depression among others and alcoholics who dealing having an add-on isn’t unusual. More than 8.9 million persons in the United States have co-occurring disorders, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). They estimate that just 7.4 percent of people receive treatment for both conditions, and that 55.8 percent getting no treatment at all.
Many in the habit’s field ask, “Which came first the mental health illness or the dependence, or vice versa?”
Some individuals that are depressed drink to mask their depression. Because alcohol is a depressant, many alcoholics become clinically depressed over time also their brain chemistry changes to create long-term depression. Furthermore, individuals who’ve experienced car accidents or other unfortunate incidents where they suffered serious injuries might become physiologically and mentally addicted to their prescribed substances as they make use of their emotional suffering, along with the drug too numb their physical pain. There isn’t any turning back, before they understand it.
An dependence develops.
When individuals participate in substance abuse (alcohol, drugs, etc.) and they are unable to cease use on their own even though they have attempted repeatedly, but succumb to using again, they might be said to have a habit.
Dependencies are multi-faceted whereby they change individuals in one or more ways– psychologically, biologically or socially. When the body develops withdrawal symptoms after the person discontinues use, they acquire a physical tolerance (the body needs it). The material is in their blood stream plus they want it to physically work as a way to avert the side-effects of withdrawal. They may be said to really have a psychological habit when someone craves a material that leads them to endure or impedes their rational function without it.
Addiction and substance dependency is a slow, insidious process which grows through repeated use over time, and ultimate misuse, of the drink or drug of preference.
When most junkies start rather using their material of choice, they’ve been in control. Nevertheless, as they increased their frequency of use and increase doses or amounts of the substance, their power to fairly handle their consumption of the substance diminishes. C management over using the substance also diminishes. Where they cannot control their substance use any longer, eventually they passed a point of no return. Their withdrawal symptoms and cravings take control over their daily lives.
Why ceasing is a challenge. Whenever an individual chooses to stop using their material of choice either by going “cold turkey” (quitting immediately) or going right into a detoxification program they’re frequently likely to develop symptoms of withdrawal. When the body has developed a tolerance to a substance, the person is addicted to the substance. People experience disagreeable, even violent, symptoms in their own bodies due to quitting.
They’re most likely addicted to their substance of preference at an emotional/mental level if someone has the capacity to stop with minimal or no disruptive physiological senses. When trying to quite they may experience extreme or violent changes in their dispositions, but the capability to remove the toxicity and requirement from their bodies is more easily attained than those with physiological addictions.
People with physiological addictions may err and find yourself using their material of choice again because they wish to relieve physical symptoms. Conversely, people with mental dependence to substances may use again after a “slip” as a form of escapism, immediate gratification “high”, or to cope psychologically with psychological anxiety as well as depression.
Treat the addiction and when dealing with co-occurring disorder it is important to treat both the addiction and the mental health disorder simultaneously. In the case of an alcoholic who suffers from chronic depression, or the clinically depressed individual who is an alcoholic (drinking to cope or mask their depression), it makes no difference which came first–the mental illness or the addiction. The key is treating both equally and effectively, thus helping the individual achieve their most optimal level of functioning. The goal is to reduce greater damage to their mind/body, and help them reach a new level of self-efficacy.
Right is Enough, a self-help book on how you can beat addictions and bad habits.