Substance Abuse and Mental Health Facilities in South Yarmouth, MA

Both substance abuse and mental illness tend to cause each other. For instance, if you live in South Yarmouth 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.

Psychosis

Research studies show a link between substance abuse and psychosis. Substance abuse occurs when you take any illicit drug, use prescription medications without a valid prescription or outside the prescribing instructions of your doctor, or taking legal substances in excess.

SAMHSA - the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - reports that addiction tends to occur often alongside psychosis. This is because some of the symptoms of substance abuse often resemble those that occur when you are struggling with this mental health disorder. If you are diagnosed with psychosis, you may also turn to these substances and eventually find yourself dealing with a clinical addiction.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is linked to imbalances in the chemicals that are found in the brain - including but not limited to dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate. These imbalances will affect the response of your brain to external stimuli. As a result, you can experience hallucinations and hypersensitivity - some of the common symptoms of this mental health disorder.

There are also differences in the structure of the brain occurring with schizophrenia. These differences include enlarged ventricles (the cavities at the core of the brain that are filled with fluid), decreased gray matter, and decreased or increased activity in certain parts of the brain.

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.