According to the 2013 CDC findings, it has been estimated that 50% of the total population is likely to suffer from a mental health issue at some point in life. This also means that more and more people are going to need professional help to deal with mental health issues.
However, even today, not all mental health sufferers can access the right help. This leads them to the path of addiction. Mental health patients begin to abuse substances like alcohol to cover the pain. This leads to a serious condition called dual diagnosis. You can know more about the same in the blog below.
Alcohol and Depression-A Common Combination
Dual diagnosis can have a variety of substance abuse and mental health disorder combinations. One of the most common combinations of them is alcohol and depression.
Various studies prove that depression is among the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorders. The state of depression is also referred to as “anger turned inside”. Such a feeling is difficult to handle alone and requires professional support. Unfortunately, not everyone can get that and instead turns towards alcohol to feel better.
Alcohol surely helps in making the user happy. However, the effect is temporary and depression kicks in again as the effect wears off. The user consumes alcohol again to feel happy and the cycle continues.
This leads to two problems-alcohol addiction and untreated depression. The same can also happen in reverse where depression is developed as a side effect of alcohol addiction. In fact, depression is one of the major side effects of alcohol addiction.
That’s also the reason which makes these two disorders a common combination of dual diagnosis.
Recovering from Alcohol Addiction and Depression
Since both disorders are interconnected, it is necessary to deal with them both simultaneously. Treating only depression can leave alcohol addiction behind. This can increase the risk of re-occurrence of depression. The same is the case with treating alcohol addiction alone.
Therefore, it is important to address both issues at the same time. Such treatment needs expert intervention from multiple fields. You need to approach a rehab center offering dual diagnosis treatment. The treatment ideally involves:
- Detox or medical detox
- Therapies and counseling
- Aftercare or sober living
These treatments and therapies are available at Skyward Treatment in Houston, Texas. You can visit us or call us now to get more details on the same.