While there are some regional differences and socioeconomic factors that can influence these numbers, substance use disorders are a disease that can affect anyone. And, people who struggle with substance use disorders are more likely to experience other psychiatric disorders. This signals the importance of treating addiction as a mental illness with proper drug counseling.
Unfortunately, roughly 75% or more of people with addiction do not seek help. In fact, this figure may be rather conservative. Other estimates say that only 14% of people with a SUD in the past year sought treatment.
Our mission here at Wavelengths Recovery is to help people struggling with substance abuse get the necessary treatment needed to break free from their addictions. Our treatment centers in Huntington Beach, Orange County help us help you with proper drug counseling and therapy.
Getting Therapy for Addiction
Unless you have struggled with addiction yourself, it can be hard to imagine how strongly a substance can influence your mind and thought processes. Many people fall into the delusion that they are in control of their substance abuse, especially early on in their addiction. As time passes and a person attempts sobriety, they may begin to realize how these substances have truly affected them.
Breaking free from these problematic thought processes is the only way to truly find meaningful recovery. And therapy can help you work through that.
Drug counselors and therapists help support addicted individuals through emotions associated with substance abuse and heal underlying causes of addiction. They can help one better comprehend the causes of their addiction, process and identify negative thoughts, teach healthy coping skills, control potential triggers, and develop a long-term recovery plan.
The Correlation Between Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
Addiction, also known as a substance use disorder (SUD), can exacerbate mental illness. We refer to this phenomenon as co-occurring disorders and dual-diagnosis.
Some numbers to consider about co-occurring disorders include:
- A person with a SUD is 30% more likely to experience clinical depression
- A person with a SUD is 60% more likely to have some form of PTSD
- A person with SUD is 80% more likely to experience a borderline personality disorder.
These numbers of course correlate with the occurrence of these disorders. The normal occurrence of depression in the US runs around 5.3% every year. The normal occurrence of PTSD in the US runs around 3.6% every year. And, borderline personality disorders in the US run around 1.6% every year.
The above conditions are just a few of many that might occur during one’s struggle with substance abuse. Every person is unique and should be treated as such to truly help them heal their mind, body, and spirit.
When a person attends a quality treatment program, they can identify these co-occurring illnesses and develop a treatment plan that caters to all one’s mental health concerns. This is why therapy is so crucial in recovery.
Benefits of Therapy for Addiction
There are many different adaptations of psychotherapy that may be used in addiction treatment programs. However, the goal remains rather similar — to treat each individual uniquely and heal their mind.
The role of any given psychotherapy approach might include:
- Evaluate and assess a person’s mental health and severity of their addiction
- Support a person emotionally
- Educate a person on addiction, mental health, and behavioral significance
- Provide one-on-one therapy, group therapy, and family therapy
- Facilitate healthy living standards and practices, including exercise and diet
- Develop individual goals and a plan of action
Forms of Behavioral Therapy
The above can be accomplished through various forms of treatment, but it does take an expert therapist to identify problems and properly guide a person through their issues.
Some different forms of addiction therapy can include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy — is the gold standard that most behavioral therapies are based around. It focuses on identifying problematic cycles of behavior, emotion, and their correlation. The goal, of course, is to stop these cycles and replace them with healthy behaviors and thoughts.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy — is great for patients with a dual diagnosis and can help patients build confidence and communication with their therapist and themselves. It has a heavy emphasis on teaching healthy coping mechanisms.
- Meditation and Mindfulness — helps patients become more mindful of their thoughts and control them more effectively. It can help a person stay relaxed and more effectively avoid triggering situations.
- Holistic Therapies — focus on the person as a whole and their overall health. Mental health is complex, and improving one’s physical health as well as adding more enjoyment to their lives can help a person move past their problematic substance abuse and adopt healthy habits. This might include nutrition, yoga, music therapy, art therapy, equine therapy, among other things that are offered as a part of our Alchemy Wellness program.
The ultimate goal of the above is to bring meaningful change that can help a person better live a fulfilling life.
Drug Counseling in Orange County, CA
Wavelengths Recovery’s Huntington Beach Rehab Centers have established themselves as premier treatment facilities in the Orange County area. These treatment centers are where Wavelengths began their journey in helping others recover from substance abuse.
Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to develop drug counseling programs that bring meaningful change and improve the lives of those who come through our doors.
If you’d like to get in contact with our admission specialists for our Huntington Beach treatment centers, please call 855-799-6869 today.
