The more you try to understand addiction, the further we tend to understand its nexus with mental health. The mental health professionals call it dual diagnosis when the person is diagnosed with addiction and a mental health disorder.
Addiction and Depression: The Link
The primary question is this: does substance abuse cause depression, or is the other way around? However, the answer to this question is a bit complicated. It can happen that the pain caused due to depression might push you towards substances. The negative feelings that emanate while being depressed can be suppressed by using certain substances.
Since these substances are highly addictive, it can take hold over a person’s life. It is a fact that these substances are not the solution. Nevertheless, people take it for the temporary alleviation but get addicted.
Substance abuse tends to isolate the person from their loved ones. This isolation leads to even more depression and other mood disorders. As the level of addiction worsens, you could lose interest in the things you once enjoyed. The relationships with your friends and family will also suffer due to this addiction. In turn, they make you feel more depressed and exacerbate your symptoms of depression.
Addiction and Depression: The Treatment
The treatment of dual diagnosis can get complex. They tend to face even more challenges in therapy and also require more time to treat. But, it does not mean that the person cannot recover.
Keep this mind: recovery is within your reach. The mode of imparting therapy in this regard has also undergone a seismic shift. Earlier, both of these diseases were being treated separately and it would often lead to dangerous results.
Now, the whole idea of therapy is based on integrated intervention, which allows you to get help for both of these disorders. The professionals tend to use cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy, experiential therapy and other methods to exact upon the root causes of your problem.
Then, they devise a plan for you to get out your addiction and depression. These therapists teach the person how to handle both of these disorders simultaneously.
Therefore, if you feel that you or any other person is getting into this cycle of addiction and depression, there is a treatment available for it. People do not need to live with this and can learn to handle it.