Substance Abuse and Mental Health Facilities in Edmonds, WA

In case you abusing substances like alcohol and drugs in Edmonds, they can prove effective at managing - albeit in the short term - the symptoms of your mental health disorder. This form of self-medication, however, can be dangerous because it can lead to addiction.

The temporary relief that you derive from these substances could soon be overtaken by other negative physical and psychological effects. Eventually, you may even find that you have started struggling with more of the common mental health problems that are linked with drug and alcohol addiction.

Depression

Although it is normal to experience highs and lows all through life, if you are depressed, this condition is likely to continue unabated for months or even years on end. Unless you seek professional treatment, the condition might even remain untreated for the rest of your life.

However, you might start abusing drugs and alcohol to self-medicate the symptoms of your depression. When this happens, you might develop a substance use disorder - or an addiction - much faster than you would have if you were not struggling with the mental health disorder.

Impulse Control Disorder

DSM-IV - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Edition) reports that slightly above 10 percent of the American population has one form of impulse control disorder or the other. However, males tend to be more prone to these disorders than females. Additionally, these disorders typically occur at the same time with substance abuse and addiction as well as with other mental health disorders.

In many cases, impulse control disorder might be misdiagnosed or overlooked. If this happens, the end result would be that you would not receive the help that you need to overcome it.

A dual diagnosis treatment program can help you understand the reasons behind your substance abuse and addiction as well as how this disorder is affected and continues to affect the other co-occurring behavioral and mental health disorders that you have also been diagnosed with.

This type of treatment would most likely be highly specialized and integrated. This is because it has to manage all the disorders that you have been struggling with at the same time - or simultaneously. It is recommended that you go through dual diagnosis treatment if you have been living with both addiction as well as any other co-occurring medical or mental health disorders.