Recovering from drug addiction is extremely difficult and setbacks are unavoidable.
Self medication and coping
For lots of people, drug and alcohol use begins as self-medication. Coping with a temporary stress or to mask mental health problems.
In some communities, it is easier to get street drugs than medical mental health treatment. Help is hard to access and the flow of individuals from recovery back to the streets is fragmented.
Substances will affect you mentally
The brain adapts. Effectively, the brain uses less of its own neurotransmitter systems upon which the drugs exploit. Your brain now depends on the drug for relief.
Below is a list of commonalities that play a role in the increasing risk of developing mental illness and substance use disorders. The stigma attached to both substance use disorders and mental illness exacerbate these factors.
- Racism and other forms of discrimination
- Isolation
- Childhood trauma
- Poverty
- Lack of access to education and health care
The entanglement of mental illness and substance use disorder requires urgent action. Efforts to reverse the addiction and overdose crisis need to be multifaceted, taking mental illness into account. We have powerful recovery tools, proven treatment tools for addiction, especially for opioid dependence.
Screening and care for mental health must be a component to successfully address the current addiction crises. Risk reduction must begin early in life and doesn’t have to be aimed solely at overdose deaths. Prevention is possible if investments are made.
Screening is equally important. The Preventive Services Task Force now recommends a screen for depression for all patients. Developing personalized intervention and increase the likelihood of recovery.
Interventions starting during the prenatal period and followed through adolescence and young adulthood can help avert a range of adverse outcomes later in life. Early drug prevention has a positive return on investment; it could not only save lives but also money.
Join the national movement to combat mental health and recovery. We need people from all walks of life to support this movement. If you are suffering from addiction, get help.
Let’s work to end the stigma.