By Jude 
You may want to ask, why most addiction treatment strategies don’t work? The truth is not due to the lack of willpower in most people. The main cause is that most rehab centers don’t address mental health issues.
Did you know that approximately 35% of adults with mental disorders abuse substances? If a person is living with a substance disorder as well as mental health conditions, the rate of their recovery is low, unless both problems are treated.
This means, how can someone expect to cure an addiction without treating the underlying mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress? Treating addiction while forgetting about mental health issues is pointless.
Recovery through modern addiction treatment strategies means to address all underlying conditions that affect the individual. This is why good quality rehabs in Utah and other places treat mental issues as well as substance abuse.
Addiction Treatment and Mental Health Issues: Points To Note
- Why is there a relationship between mental health and addiction?
- The importance of integrated treatment.
- How to find the right treatment strategy.
Addiction and Mental Health Treatment: The Connection You Can’t Ignore
I want to explain a fact to you that many people don’t know…
Addiction and mental health conditions affect the same parts of the brain. They work on the same neurotransmitters. This means, they interact and counteract each other in a way that makes it difficult to separate them.
For instance, a depressed person who decides to self-medicate through alcohol or drugs, has two separate conditions but both need to be treated.
The truth is that, most rehab centers don’t provide treatment for mental health. They focus on addiction and that is it. After the patient leaves the rehab center without mental treatment, what is likely to happen after some time?
The patient will use again and this is not their fault, but it is the rehab center’s fault.
Statistics on Dual Diagnosis and Mental Health
The numbers on dual diagnosis are actually shocking. In recent studies, it was revealed that approximately 80% of people who needed treatment in 2024 for substance use, did not receive any treatment.
If you allow me, I want you to think about that number for a minute.
I want you to imagine, that five out of seven people who require assistance, don’t get it and the other two get the wrong treatment. For the sake of statistics, approximately one-third of adults with any mental illness also have substance use disorder.
This means, they have an increased risk of relapse, severe symptoms, and poor treatment outcomes. Do you know the good news about this? The treatment center will not tell you this.
However, when both conditions are treated at the same time, the rate of recovery dramatically improves.
Traditional Addiction Treatment Program: What Is Wrong
Traditional treatment program was built on a simple formula. Detox, therapy, a 12-step meeting, and you are done with the program. The problem is that this model works when addiction occurs in isolation.
In addiction treatment today, most people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs have depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other mental health conditions.
In a traditional treatment program the patient will be expected to do the following:
- Attend a detox session.
- Attend therapy sessions on addiction behaviors.
- Be taught on how to deal with different circumstances through coping strategies.
- Then they are released back to their homes.
This is what traditional rehab programs do, and they all fail at this.
This model does not address the underlying mental issues that are hidden behind the addiction and for which the patient uses alcohol or drugs.
The problem with a traditional treatment program is that the professionals do not address any of the mental illnesses or disorders the patient is experiencing. As a result, this model fails.
Integrated Treatment: Why It Is the Power House
However, there is a powerful treatment model, and I will let you in on what it is…
Integrated addiction treatment. This model of treatment offers the treatment of both mental health and addiction at the same time. Quality treatment centers know the truth that addiction and mental health issues are two parts of the same coin.
Day one, the patient gets comprehensive mental health screening. The therapist will identify any underlying condition such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
After that, the patient will be provided with a treatment program that caters to their both addiction and mental health condition. The treatment program may include;
- Medication management of the patient’s depression or anxiety.
- Trauma-focused therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder
- Cognitive therapy that helps the patient focus on the change of negative patterns.
- Dialectical therapy to teach the patient on how to regulate their emotions.
- Group therapy to help the patient learn more from people with similar conditions.
In this program, everything is integrated. The therapist talks to the psychiatrists. The patient’s psychiatrist works in unison with the professional medical team.
This is the reason the best treatment center has psychiatric care, medication, specialized, and holistic therapy.
The Value of Mental Health Treatment In Rehab
Let me make a thing clear to you, the success rate of people who receive both addiction and mental treatment is much better than people who receive addiction only treatment.
This is so because the integrated treatment recognizes the fact that addiction is a symptom that stems from other conditions that are mental. Some people use alcohol to feel better because they have untreated depression.
Someone with a high level of anxiety might use to calm down, while a person with PTSD might have to use opioids to avoid feeling some emotions.
On this note, one might think that they can kick the substance when they have a better lifestyle and life strategies. The only problem is that it is not possible for a person to replace the symptom and not deal with the root of the problem.
The leading treatment centers have made sure that their facilities have on-ground psychiatric care, medication, and specialized and holistic therapy.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment and Mental Health Addiction
I have got a secret to let you in on the dual diagnosis treatment, which most people don’t know. Dual diagnosis is not an exception, but it is the norm.
If you or your loved one is living with addiction problems, the likelihood is high that you also have a mental issue. This fact does not make you weak at all.
The good thing is that, with treatment that focuses on your dual diagnosis, your rate of recovery is not only possible but probable.
The patients who receive integrated treatment tend to have a low rate of relapse, good adherence to treatment, and improved quality of life.
The problem is that people will find treatment programs that are offering integrated care. The only solution is to have good knowledge on addiction treatment and rehabilitation.
Finding the Best Treatment Program Approach
How do you find the treatment program that addresses both mental health and addiction?
Asking the right question is the first thing you should do. Questions such as;
- Do the rehab center have licensed psychiatrists in their team?
- Do they do a comprehensive mental health screening?
- Do they offer medication management?
If any of these questions is answered with a no, then you can keep searching for a better place.
Quality rehab centers will have a team of professionals working together. The team will consist of addiction experts, psychiatrists, therapists, and other medical personnel. The team will make the patient a better treatment plan to address all challenges.
Conclusion
Addiction treatment and mental health problems are not two separate issues. They are two parts of the same coin.
The research is clear, the numbers are startling, and the real-world results are all speaking for themselves. The treatment program that focuses on both addiction and mental health simultaneously is the gold standard for many reasons.
If you or your loved one is living with addiction treatment, don’t settle for the treatment that only focuses on one part of the issue. Search for a treatment program that connects mental health and addiction.
The journey of recovery is not only about getting sober. Recovery is about healing and treating the issues that made the individual use in the first place.
This is what real recovery looks like.