Depression affects over 40 million adults across the United States. While it’s natural in a person’s life to experience highs and lows, for some of us, those lows take hold of our entire lives. When it reaches that point, it’s time to get some help. But what do you do when you don’t know how to find a depression treatment program?
Some turn to substances to cope with these symptoms. Although it might work for as long as the high lasts, since they can’t ultimately treat your depression, this often leads to abuse. For cases like these, you need dual diagnosis treatment, such as a depression treatment program, to understand the effect substances have on mental illness.
Sierra Sage Recovery Services (SSRS) offers substance abuse and depression treatment programs to get to the root cause of your depression and get you on the road to recovery. Learn more about treatment for co-occurring mental health issues by calling 833.922.2884.
Symptoms of Depression
There are multiple types of depression. Some come with specific causes, as seen in seasonal affective disorder or SAD. There are strains like atypical depression that work with the ups and downs of a roller coaster, while major depression is more like one of those rides in amusement parks that drop from a great height and keep on dropping.
There are some common traits seen in all aspects of depression. They can include:
- Loss of interest in work and personal life
- Feelings of uselessness
- Problems sleeping
- Changes in appetite and weight
There are also more severe symptoms. A person with bad enough depression may experience hallucinations or delusional episodes, feelings of recklessness, or thoughts of suicide. Often when things get that bad, a person turns to drugs or alcohol to try and treat themselves. But where does that lead them?
Depression and Substance Abuse
A co-occurring addiction to any substance, especially alcohol, can greatly worsen symptoms of depression. Studies have shown that those with depression have a ten percent lifetime suicide risk. But when combined with substance abuse, that risk rises to twenty-five percent. That’s double what you’d be managing otherwise.
Dual diagnoses like this can make substance abuse treatment difficult, as the signs of depression and addiction tend to blur together. They both cause a person to give up things they used to enjoy and mistreat the relationships in their lives, eventually going as far as to isolate themselves from their community. So how can you get out of this hole?
Substance Abuse Treatment
It’s hard to admit that you may be abusing a substance. Part of what makes it so tricky is that it gives you the illusion of control that you don’t actually have. But there are a few questions you can ask yourself to inspect the relationship you have with your substance of choice.
Do you find yourself using more of the substance to get the effect you want? Is your using interfering with your work or home life? Have you tried to cut back before – and, if you did, how did it make you feel?
It’s not a shameful thing to seek substance abuse treatment. We bring a stigma onto ourselves because we feel like we’re alone in our pain, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Learn More About Dual Diagnosis Treatment Through Sierra Sage Recovery
At Sierra Sage Recovery, we understand the cycle of untreated dual diagnosis illnesses. You experience these painful symptoms and turn to the substance to treat them. It works for a night, but then the morning comes, and things haven’t changed. In fact, they may be worse. So, you go back to the substance to make things a little easier, but sooner or later, you still end back in square one.
This can be because of depression or because of anxiety, bipolar, or PTSD. Whatever the case, our addiction treatment therapies can diagnose your problem at the core and give you what you need to live a healthier and more stable life.
If you want off the cycle, contact Sierra Sage Recovery Services today at 833.922.2884 to learn about our dual diagnosis treatment program. We can help you get your feet back on the ground.
