Mood disorders can be overwhelming to the person with the mood disorder and to their family members.
Due to the stigma that mental health has and has had, the person with the mood disorder may try self-medicating instead of seeing their doctor for a prescription that will help.
This behavior of self-medicating can lead to a co-occurring substance abuse problem. Unfortunately, this only makes the mood disorder worse.
Mood disorders
Mood disorders include any of the following:
- Bipolar
- Depression
- Anxiety
People who have one of these mood disorders are already in a state where the chemicals in their brain fluxuate; adding substances such as alcohol or drugs to the mix causes it to worsen.
What causes mood disorders?
The cause of mood disorders may have more than a few underlying causes depending on the disorder.
Some of those causes include:
- Genetic issues
- Biological problems
- Environmental reasons
Risk factors for mood disorders
Some risk factors for mood disorders include:
- Family history
- Previously diagnosed mood disorder
- Trauma
- Stress
- Major life changes
- Physical illness
- Medications
- Brain make up and performance
If you think you may have a mood disorder see your primary care physician instead of self-medicating with alcohol or drugs.
If you are already on medication for a mood disorder, you should understand that mixing alcohol or other street drugs can cause reactions or the prescribed medication not to work.
If you have a mood disorder and substance abuse issue what should you do?
If you have a mood disorder and take medication for it but find that you are also abusing alcohol or substances then you will need to find a treatment center that treats co-occurring conditions.
It is important to treat both the mood disorder and the substance abuse at the same time. This approach allows you to detox from alcohol or substances while still treating your mood disorder by combining medicine-assisted detox and counseling.
Many treatment centers do not treat dual diagnoses of addiction and mental health issues. They only treat addiction but only after the mental health issue has been treated. This creates major stress for the person who is fighting both mental health problems and addiction which often causes both illnesses to become worse.
Getting help in Orange County
Getting help in Orange County, California, for both addiction and mood disorder illness does not have to be difficult.
449 Recovery is one treatment center that treats dual diagnosis patients. Therapies include cognitive behavioral therapy, art therapy, pet therapy, counseling individually, group, and family, and more.
449 Recovery’s approach is to treat the whole person; that means treating both co-occurring conditions at the same time. We want to heal the entire person; body, mind, and spirit. We teach life skills to help you understand your illness, the things that trigger you to self-medicate so you can prevent that from happening, and how to let go of the past.
Call us today at (855) 435-7449 to learn more about our therapies, insurance and payment forms we accept.
