Suffering from anxiety and addiction? You’re not alone. It can seem like the cards are stacked against you: battling a substance use disorder is taxing enough, but coupled with a mood disorder, like anxiety or depression, can seem like you were dealt a bad hand. These issues are commonly comorbid, or occurring together, and can exacerbate each other’s symptoms. The first step to treating either disorder is understanding the connection between the two.
The link between mood disorders and addiction
Mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, are often concurrent with substance use disorders. Individuals with anxiety have a 33% to 45% chance of also suffering from a substance use disorder, according to the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. According to another study, anxiety and addiction are two of the most common behavioral disorders in the United States and are also the most commonly undiagnosed and poorly treated.
Because symptoms of a substance use disorder may appear more detrimental to an individual’s health and their surrounding environment, the underlying mood disorder often goes unnoticed. But if the cause of the issue is untreated, treatment for the substance use disorder can prove frustrating and sometimes impossible.
Self-medication
What may appear to simply be an issue with addiction could actually be a form of self-medication for an individual’s mood disorder. Disorders like anxiety and depression can be a result of many things, such as environmental triggers, trauma or chemical imbalances in the brain, but regardless, tend to result in overactive areas in the brain. Because of this, substances that depress these overactive areas (like opioids and alcohol) are a quick fix for those suffering from these disorders. It should come as no surprise that benzodiazepines, which also depress parts of the central nervous system, are often prescribed to those who suffer from anxiety.
This is defined by researchers as self-medication. While it may seem like a logical form of treatment, self-medication masks the root of the problem and in some cases, may make symptoms of an anxiety disorder worse, fueling the fire of the substance use disorder.
The action of self-medication is not an individual’s fault. Societal pressures that define relaxation as an alcoholic beverage or illicit substance can infiltrate the thought process of those who suffer from anxiety:
Treatment
Not only are these disorders often linked, but treatment of one may affect the outcomes of the other. Results of a study from the Medical University of South Carolina found that treating an individual’s mood disorder reduced their urge to use substance’s inappropriately.
Part of our mission at API is our commitment and investment to each individual. Not all behavioral health stories are the same and, as such, should not be treated the same. Recognizing that some substance use disorders are accompanied by equally devastating mood disorders is an important, personalized step to the goal of another success story.
Our team at API has been treating those seeking help for co-occurring mood and substance use disorders for over 35 years and have a track record of success in diagnosing and treating these type illnesses. In many cases, treatment can be delivered in an outpatient setting. Help and healing is available, contact us today.
