Dual diagnosis alcohol and depression is among the most frequent co-occurring mental health disorders. You might ask why Alcohol Use Disorders simultaneously happen along with depressive disorders so often. It’s not a coincidence.
The relationship between these two mental health issues is complicated, with depression harming a person’s emotional well-being and alcohol abuse impacting the brain.
Changes Healing Center is one of Phoenix’s most respected mental health treatment facilities in dual diagnosis treatment and psychiatric disorders. We hold Joint Commission Accreditation, proving our commitment to successful treatment outcomes for our clients.
Most people know we are experts in helping resolve substance use disorder – we’re proud of our track record. But we owe our success to our expertise in addressing not only substance abuse but also underlying mental health conditions.
Keep reading to learn more about how alcohol use disorder and depression can intermingle and create a complex issue to resolve.
It can be incredibly difficult to break co-occurring depression and alcohol abuse. The dual impact makes these conditions complicated to treat and requires a fully integrated treatment program. Without proper treatment, alcohol dependence continues, sleep quality drops, and even financial or legal troubles may result.
Many clients we’ve treated started drug and alcohol abuse to get temporary relief from depression (or, sometimes, another mental illness). Alcohol gives them a sense of calm and well-being for a little while, easing the sadness or emotional pain.
But when one self-medicates this way, the symptoms of major depression re-emerge as soon as the alcohol’s effects wear off. It creates a loop of dependency and often makes the feelings of fatigue or hopelessness worsen.
Do you know the most common self-medicating symptoms? Watch for these signs:
Substance use can provide short-lived relief from the pain of depression. However, it increases alcohol dependency and leads to making mental health problems even worse in the long run.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has long warned that untreated depression increases the risk of alcohol addiction. People struggling with depression may engage in substance use, including drinking, more often, more heavily, or alone.
In the long term, alcohol changes the brain’s reward system; it becomes more difficult for someone to function without alcohol. That change sets up a cycle that makes both co-occurring disorders even worse. Those who don’t seek long-term recovery for both psychiatric disorders simultaneously may find themselves stuck in a cycle that feels inescapable.
Alcohol addiction and depression share several common risk factors, making their interconnections even more challenging to untangle. Someone with the following lifestyle factors is more likely to develop a co-occurring disorder:
Attending a dual diagnosis treatment center that offers therapy, life skills training, and a full range of treatment options can help offset these factors.
‘Derek’ struggled with alcohol dependence long before his diagnosis. He grew up in poverty, sometimes going to bed hungry. He spent long stretches of his childhood living in his family’s minivan. The instability and stress of living in unsafe conditions left emotional scars that he never discussed.
As a teen, Derek learned how substance abuse alleviated the stress and gave him a break of his bleak circumstances. He learned that alcohol was easy to get; drinking became a daily habit. By the time he was 20, Derek was the crutch that held up years of deep depression.
After his first adult arrest, the Arizona Drug Courts gave him the opportunity to the substance abuse and mental health treatment he needed. We offered Derek the fresh start he needed; he’s working full-time and has a small studio apartment; he has big goals and plans to work hard and move up in his company. But for now, he’s grateful for safety and a sense of peace.
Bipolar disorder, which some formerly referred to as manic depressive illness, is a mood disorder. It brings extreme mood swings with depressive lows and manic highs. Those who have bipolar might also develop addictive disorders, especially alcohol abuse.
They turn to alcohol use to calm themselves during manic phases or cope with depression. But that can escalate from casual use to alcohol addiction, making co-occurring mental health conditions increasingly worse.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that about 20.4 million American adults have both a mental illness and a substance use disorder.
Understanding how many people struggle with co-occurring disorders shows why it’s important to find treatment centers like Changes Healing Center that know why both mental illnesses must be treated simultaneously.
People facing alcohol or drug abuse challenges may also have other mental health disorders besides depression and bipolar disorder. These can include:
Many mental health issues can be co-occurring disorders. However, each requires a professional assessment, as symptoms sometimes overlap. For instance, anxiety disorders and PTSD symptoms often look similar. However, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) considers each mental health disorder separately. It takes a clinical psychiatry specialist to provide appropriate treatment, but only after making an accurate diagnosis.
Our past client ‘Cleo’ is a warning of how a misdiagnosis can worsen an alcohol addiction. In her early 20s, Cleo’s doctor advised that her psychiatric symptoms pointed to generalized anxiety disorder. The prescribed medication didn’t begin to help the emptiness she went through every day. What Cleo had was undiagnosed major depressive disorder.
To cope with her despair, she began drinking heavily to put herself to sleep. That habit quickly grew into an alcohol addiction, which masked the depression, perhaps even making it worse. She eventually came to Changes and received the appropriate substance abuse and mental health treatment options to help her live a better life again.
When mental health disorders occur in two or more at a time, each condition can intensify symptoms in the other. The result is a state where it becomes hard to distinguish one mental disorder from another. Dual diagnosis programs that use the same treatment provider to address the underlying mental health condition and the substance use disorder offer the best treatment outcomes.
Having one point person to oversee integrated treatment eliminates miscommunications and builds client confidence. The following sections explain why Changes is one of Phoenix’s top choices for receiving a host of mental health services, including substance abuse treatment.
Ending alcohol or drug abuse starts with detox; the medically supervised detoxification program at our facility is an excellent treatment option when you’re ready to start the recovery journey. We monitor each person’s overall physical and mental health problems during detox. Our providers can provide medication to relieve anxiety or any distressing physical symptoms you may encounter during this phase.
Alcohol use disorder can be dangerous to quit, especially when dealing with withdrawal symptoms in the first days or recovery. Because the alcohol has retrained the brain’s reward system, the doctor may prescribe medicine approved by the FDA to support you as you stop use.
As your health improves, you gradually taper down the medicine until you become free of substance use. During this time, you also begin talk therapy and learn coping skills that address the co-occurring disorders.
We believe in providing a holistic, evidence-based treatment program that addresses all aspects of substance abuse treatment. From receiving specific therapies to target your psychiatric disorders to peer support groups to help you hone a new set of coping tools, we will provide a variety of resources to help you recover.
Some common types of evidence-based therapy to expect include the following:
These are just a few examples; your treatment options will be custom-tailored to fit your individual needs.
The recovery journey doesn’t end when you leave the recovery center. Staying clean and sober for life includes a variety of strategies to help manage urges and avoid slip-ups as you continue to recover. Our counselors help you and your loved ones develop specific strategies to maintain progress. Some things that may be part of aftercare planning include:
Continued care for mental disorders often lasts a lifetime. But with the right tools, many former alcohol or drug abusers go on and lead a happy, productive life after their dual diagnosis programs end.
We work with self-pay clients, who fund treatment from personal sources. Some use their savings, or their families pitch in to pay for recovery program costs. Others take out personal loans or use credit to get the help they need for their dual diagnosis.
However, the majority of clients who come to Changes rely on their insurance benefits to cover the cost of treatment. We work with many of the top insurance companies in Arizona, including:
…and many others. If you don’t see your plan listed here, please connect with our admissions staff.
Are you ready to have your dual diagnosis treated? Our team will provide you with the expert care and compassionate care you need. We’ve treated hundreds of dual diagnosis alcohol use disorder and depression clients over the years with tremendous success.
Call our team today to receive free, confidential answers to all your questions about dual diagnosis treatment.