Dealing with Drug Addiction and Depression

When dealing with the link connecting depression to drug addiction, it can be challenging to convey precisely where one ends and the other one starts. A common factor when dealing with drug addiction is depression.

It’s so common, that majority of individuals addicted to alcohol, or drugs, also display symptoms of depression. These symptoms could range from mild to severe.

Who Came First The Chicken Or The Egg?
Figuring out whether drug addiction causes depression or if depression increases the probability of drug addiction, is greatly debated. Either way you want to look at it, depression only worsens with substance abuse.

The instant sensation of euphoria wears off. And when it does, it is replaced with an even deeper depression combined with exhaustion, anxiety and guilt.

Continued use of drugs and alcohol leads to addiction which causes fundamental fluctuations in the brain’s chemistry. Pre-existing psychological conditions worsen. Sometimes addiction can even create or cause different kinds of psychosis.

The single method to successfully treating it is a program that simultaneously treats both disorders. In order to get the appropriate help, know that it’s essentially impossible to treat one without also treating the other.

How to Help Addicts with Depression

The Right Treatment
Addicts who suffer from severe, or chronic depression, find it easy to produce a reason to drink when looking for one. We know that regular drinking can easily turn into alcohol dependence then alcoholism.
Addicts and alcoholics who are brave enough to get medical treatment for their depression, instead of self-medicating, discover that the sensitive topics approached during therapy trigger the impulse to use.

This is why undergoing coinciding treatment, for both depression and addiction, at the same time is the best way to tackle it.

Breaking the Cycle
Some addicts return to rehab. How to break this cycle:
• Understand your triggers.
• Get to the root of the problem, face it in therapy.
• Build a strong support system.
• Treat both physiological conditions and addiction simultaneously.
• Thorough detoxification is also essential.
• Stay in therapy.
• Invest in your future health, AA, NA, etc.

Depression does not have to be Permanent
Recovery is a crucial part of future success. Supporting the body with the proper nutrition, rediscovering self-confidence and self-respect, being honest with themselves and family, are all apart of living successfully in recovery. Finding happiness can really help with treating depression.
Struggling with depression and addiction can be a difficult thing to treat, but it is not impossible. Going in rehab and getting the appropriate treatment can help tremendously. Finding balance in recovery is possible and every addict should know it.