Substance Abuse and Mental Health Facilities in St. Louis, MI

If you live in St. Louis and you start abusing drugs and alcohol, there is a high risk that you might develop a co-occurring mental health disorder. On the other hand, if you have an undiagnosed mental illness, there is a likelihood that you might start abusing these substances to self-medicate the symptoms of your mental illness.

Research studies show that substance abuse and mental health disorders tend to have some underlying causes in common. These might include changes in the composition of the brain, early exposure to traumatic and stressful events, and genetic vulnerabilities.

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.

It is recommended that you seek dual diagnosis treatment to manage all of the disorders that you have been struggling with simultaneously so that one does not cause the other to recur in the future.

This is especially true if you have been diagnosed with both substances abuse as well as another co-occurring mental health or medical disorders. Although these disorders tend to occur at the same time in many cases, it is possible to overcome them. To be able to do so, you will have to go through a highly integrated dual diagnosis treatment program.