Mental Health and Addiction Treatment in Los Angeles

The Mental Health and Addiction Connection

Mental health and addiction occur within millions of Americans each day either independently or simultaneously. The medical diagnosis and term for someone who is experiencing a mental health disorder and a drug or alcohol addiction is a co-occurring disorder. Living with a mental health disorder and substance use disorder can create unwanted and unpleasant side effects within your physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. When you are experiencing negative symptoms from your mental health disorder it can be debilitating to maintain your day-to-day functioning. As the side effects of your mental health disorder progress, it is common to look for ways to treat and lessen the severity of your symptoms, and turning to drugs and alcohol can feel like a way to escape and numb the intensity of your feelings. As this method of self-medication progresses and your use of drugs and alcohol increases, a physical and emotional dependency continues to build resulting in a spiral of addiction that impacts your mental health and overall wellbeing.

Los Angeles residents that are living with a co-occurring disorder and looking for a reprieve from their mental health and substance use disorder where they will find a healthy, balanced, sober lifestyle will benefit from a dual diagnosis treatment program. Patients will be able to address the underlying causes of your addiction while gaining perspective on how your mental health disorder has been impacted by your drug and alcohol use. Through comprehensive approaches offered at Resurgence Behavioral Health, Los Angeles residents will develop new tools for coping with triggers and managing symptoms of their mental health disorder through natural, holistic methods. 

Mental Health Conditions that Often Co-Occur with Addiction

Co-occurring disorders can take many different forms with various mental health conditions coinciding with your drug or alcohol addiction. Common mental health conditions that Los Angeles residents will experience alongside a drug or alcohol addiction are:

Mood Disorders

This can include disorders such as depression or bipolar. A mood disorder is characterized by difficulty with changes in mood and often has negative impacts or influences on your life and how you feel about yourself, how you feel about others, and your feelings about life in general. When you are living with an active drug or alcohol addiction along with your mood disorder, it tends to exacerbate and negatively impact the severity of both disorders. 

Personality Disorders

Diagnosis includes borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder. These mental health conditions affect a person’s ability to have healthy relationships due to having difficulties in perceiving and relating to people and situations. For individuals living with a personality disorder, it is more common for those individuals to engage in drug abuse rather than alcohol abuse. 

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety can present itself differently through a variety of specified anxiety disorders including:

Regardless of the type of anxiety disorder that impacts you, it can have negative impacts on your overall well being resulting in individuals looking for ways to mitigate their symptoms through alcohol or drug use which can lead to a spiral of addiction. 

Psychotic Disorders

This includes disorders such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder,  and delusional disorder. These disorders are often characterized by experiencing psychosis, hallucinations, or delusions and, ultimately, changing the way you think and your perception of yourself and others. 

Eating Disorders

These are characterized by dysfunctional eating habits and have genetic factors that contribute to eating disorders while also increasing your chances of developing a substance use disorder. Eating disorders include:

The Importance of Treating Mental Health and Addiction Together

Treating a mental health disorder and substance use disorder requires a therapeutic approach that targets your symptoms from both co-occurring disorders through a dual diagnosis treatment program. Patients will be invited to look closer at what has been at the core of their drug or alcohol addiction through behavioral therapy methods along with examining how your mental health disorder impacts your substance abuse. From there you will work with a therapist to develop new coping skills for the future and effective tools for managing unpleasant symptoms for your mental health disorder. 

Therapies Used in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment

The most commonly used therapies used in dual diagnosis treatment:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This method of addiction therapy helps patients to examine their goals for sobriety through one on one or group therapy sessions. Patients will be able to identify thoughts, actions, and emotional processes that have impacted their ability to respond to triggers without turning to substance abuse. Cognitive-behavioral therapy will help to shift your unhealthy thought patterns to support your overarching goals of living a life in sobriety and overall health.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Patients participating in a dialectical behavioral therapy process will be able to achieve the motivation needed to make the changes in their behaviors to support a life of sober living. Dialectical behavioral therapy will help patients to develop positive coping strategies and techniques to manage the symptoms of their mental health disorder and overcome potential triggers while developing strategies for relapse prevention. 

Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

This method of treatment supports patients in exploring how certain memories and events have impacted their behaviors and emotions. REBT helps patients to take away the pressure of these events affecting their ability to remain sober and healthy by modifying their responses to these events to be less reactive. Patients will be able to transform their thoughts and behaviors into productive, healthy responses that will foster optimal mental health and sobriety

Holistic Therapy

Utilizing alternative methods of treatment will support patients in healing from their co-occurring disorders emotionally, physically, and mentally. Through methods of nutritional therapy, recreational or experiential therapy, physical forms of healing include yoga, massage therapy, and acupuncture. These methods of healing will help to reduce the symptoms of mental health and provide patients with the tools to manage their future mental health symptoms while managing future triggers or stressors through healthy activities. 

Signs of Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder

The signs of a co-occurring disorder will have overlap between common mental health and drug or alcohol addiction indicators as they often emulate one another as they have similar risk factors and outcomes.

Common signs of a co-occurring disorder are:

The Dangers of Self Medicating Mental Health with Drugs and Alcohol

Mental health disorders can bring on significant side effects that impact a person’s ability to live day to day in a normal, functioning capacity. As the symptoms of your mental health disorder worsen, turning to alcohol or drugs to cope can feel like an easy way to manage the uncomfortable or unpleasant side effects. The more you use substances to self-medicate, the more your body develops a physical dependency on your drugs or alcohol creating a cycle of addiction within no time. Self-medicating for mental health disorders has been proven to have significant effects on the presenting mental health concerns by worsening the symptoms from your co-occurring disorder. Typical drug or alcohol withdrawal symptoms will impact a person’s mental health such as increasing feelings of depression or anxiety, feeling a sense of paranoia or psychosis, or causing dramatic mood changes. Thus, creating a vicious cycle of both co-occurring disorders becoming exacerbated by each other. 

Los Angeles Treatment for Mental Health and Addiction at Resurgence

Resurgence Behavioral Health offers Los Angeles residents a high-quality dual diagnosis treatment program that provides exceptional care from licensed clinicians that will support patients in attaining the life of health, happiness, and sobriety that they have been dreaming of. Each patient is offered a comprehensive, individualized treatment plan that is centered around changing your behaviors, thoughts, and emotions to develop a new foundation in addiction and mental health recovery that will ensure long-lasting change for your future. Contact Resurgence today to find out more about how you can address your co-occurring disorders with our compassionate team that is waiting to help you achieve the life of sobriety and balance that you are searching for. 

Are you in need of mental health and addiction treatment in Los Angeles? Reach out to Resurgence Behavioral Health today! #mentalhealth #addictiontreatmenthttps://t.co/JMQxb9l0Ff

— Resurgence Behavioral Health (@RBHRecovery) March 15, 2022