Substance Abuse and Mental Health Facilities in Pulaski, VA

Both substance abuse and mental illness tend to cause each other. For instance, if you live in Pulaski and you start using drugs or drinking alcohol excessively, there is a high risk that you might start displaying the signs and symptoms of a mental illness.

On the other hand, if you have been living with a mental health disorder, you might start abusing these substances to deal with the signs and symptoms of your disorder. This could later give rise to the development of a substance use disorder, or an addiction.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

The social isolation that arises from obsessive compulsive disorder could also cause you to suffer from substance abuse and addiction. While living with OCD, you could understand that your compulsions and obsessions do not make any logical sense. Further, you might feel ashamed for acting and thinking in the ways that you do.

This disorder is like drug and alcohol addiction in the sense that it could leave you feeling isolated and removed from the outside world. You might also avoid social settings and people to keep your compulsions and obsessions private. This physical isolation, loneliness, and shame could later lead to drug and alcohol abuse and addiction.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

If you went through a traumatic experience, your brain would start producing endorphins in lower quantities. These chemicals are responsible for helping you to feel comfortable and happy.

As a result, you might find yourself turning to mood-enhancing drugs and alcohol to ensure that your brain produces these endorphins in higher levels. Over time, however, you will start relying on these substances to deal with the additional feelings of irritability, anxiety, and depression arising from your post-traumatic stress disorder. This is how you will soon find that you are also living with addiction over and above the PTSD condition.

Although dual diagnosis treatment takes many different forms, you will mostly find that it is offered on an inpatient basis. This means that you will have to live in the recovery facility for a period of time - which could be anywhere between 30 and 90 days - or even longer in some instances.

The reason why you might benefit from inpatient treatment is because you will require a wide variety of round the clock rehabilitation services to manage both your substance abuse and addiction as well as any other co-occurring medical and mental health disorders that you have also been struggling with.