According to a report issued by the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, those with a PTSD diagnosis are three times more likely to experience substance abuse problems. The National Center for PTSD indicates that, at some point in their lives, up to eight out of every one hundred people might experience PTSD. PTSD and addiction disorders are common co-occurring disorders, and they have similar signs and symptoms. They each involve treatment within a dual diagnosis program in Orange County.
What is PTSD?
PTSD is an acronym for post-traumatic stress disorder. Due to the higher than normal stress levels those with PTSD experience, they have a higher chance for addictive behaviors without proper PTSD treatment programs. Challenges from both problems amplify when PTSD and addiction disorders combine.
Some signs of PTSD might include the following:
Changes in behavior or attitude
Experiencing sleep disturbances
Having difficulty concentrating
Avoiding activities, people, or places
Having nightmares
Experiencing flashbacks or reliving the trauma
Due to the many complexities of the relationship between PTSD and addiction disorders, that might complicate normal addiction treatments. An individual suffering from PTSD might have issues with everyday functions, health, and relationships. However, when PTSD and addiction disorders combine, that exacerbates the issues individuals are facing.
Self-Medicating and Substance Abuse
Because those who have PTSD experience overwhelming feelings, they might turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate. However, self-medicating with over-the-counter, prescription, or illegal drugs or alcohol only offers temporary relief from symptoms. For example, as soon as the effects of the substances wear off, that could leave individuals feeling worse. As a result, they'll feel the urge to self-medicate again. Professional substance abuse treatment programs can break this cycle.
Why people turn to drugs or alcohol to cope include:
If PTSD causes a sleep dysfunction, they use it to fall asleep
The avoidance of traumatic dreams or memories
For forgetting about their problems
To deal with PTSD's mood disturbances
As a way of numbing their extreme emotions
Over time, the use of those substances to find relief transform into addiction. Combining PTSD and addiction disorders makes their symptoms more painful and severe. Because PTSD causes anxiety, mixing substances with those symptoms wreak havoc on a person's body. As a result, their feelings of anxiety and depression worsen.
Some signs of substance abuse include the following:
Changes in appearance, including bloodshot eyes
Financial issues, including a change in spending habits
Noticeable attitude and behavioral changes
Poor work or school performance and a lack of motivation
Weight loss and a decrease in appetite
Co-Occurring PTSD and Addiction Disorders
In regards to co-occurring disorders, the National Center for PTSD indicates that nearly two-thirds of those surviving abuse or a violent and traumatic event report having drinking problems. The brain produces fewer endorphins, which are responsible for helping us feel happy, following a traumatic experience. As a result, those who have PTSD might turn to drugs or alcohol to increase their endorphin levels. As a result, they might start depending on these substances to relieve symptoms of anxiety, depression, and irritability. Depending on addictive substances will start to affect your career, relationships, and physical health.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Dual diagnosis allows therapist to treat the root cause of addiction whilst treating all the elements of mental health disorders that might be taking place. By doing this full comprehensive approach to addiction treatment therapists can treat the physical aspects of addiction, the emotional underpinnings of mental health, and treat individual behaviors based on you unique situation. Dual diagnosis is a fully individualized treatment program that utilizes evidence based therapies and aims to treat addiciton and the underlying mental health disorders. Our California addiction rehab utilizes treatments like:
Mental Health Disorders
A mental health condition is a disorder that affects a person's thinking, feeling, behavior or mood. The mental health conditions from PTSD can effect day-to-day living and may also affect the ability to relate to others. If you or a loved one has a mental illness, the first thing to know is that you are not alone. Mental health disorders are far more common than one may think.
PTSD or other mental health issues aren't always the result of one event. Research suggests multiple, linking cases. Characteristics like genetics, environment, and lifestyle influence how someone develops a mental health disorder. A stressful job or difficult home life makes some people more susceptible, as do traumatic events.
There are many different treatment methods to treat mental health disorders including
Depression
Depression is a common mental health disorder that occurs with ptsd, According to CDC estimates, 16 million people in the US have had a major depressive episode in any given year. This translates to 6.7% of the population with depression.
One thing though is that depression is treatable, and you can make a sustained and meaningful rebound after recovery with the right help and treatment. There are many depression treatment centers that offer tailored treatment to all types of depression.
Those facing crippling depression will often benefit from treatment from a licensed expert treatment center because they can treat the root cause of depression whilst teaching life skills and coping mechanisms to enter back into life in control and empowered.
Anxiety
Anxiety treatment is available for all types of anxiety disorders that co-occur with PTSD.
The daily toll of work, society, and life has ongoing repercussions that cause abnormal stress and anxiety for most people. If you find your levels of anxiety are at an extreme for weeks on end, especially when they start interfering with your daily activities, you may have an anxiety disorder.
You may find the signs of anxiety are manageable without expert anxiety treatment, but many people with anxiety find engaging with a therapist is the best way to prevent anxiety becoming overwhelming.
Final Thoughts on PTSD and Addiction Disorders
Do you have questions about PTSD and addiction disorders? If you, a family member, or a friend suffer from the combination of these disorders, now is the time to reach out for help. Contact our Orange county rehab center to learn more about these commonly co-occurring disorders, why there are risks, and how we can help. Dual diagnosis treatment will get to the root causes of both disorders, so you can live the life you deserve.