As you get ready to enter drug or alcohol treatment, you may feel as though you’ve got a lot of impossible tasks ahead of you. Although the detoxification process is guaranteed to be challenging, seeking professional treatment can actually simplify your recovery significantly. That’s because many people who struggle with substance abuse also have co-occurring disorders that lie at the root of their addictions.
With counseling in Wilmington, DE, addicts can get help with the personality disorders and other mental health issues that may ultimately be responsible for their drug or alcohol abuse. It is not uncommon for those with undiagnosed mental health disorders to self-treat. In these cases, it is their unguided efforts to feel better that cause their substance use to spiral out of control. They may be struggling with:
- Chronic and extreme anxiety
- Chronic depression
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Paranoia
- Schizophrenia
Until they are properly treated and safely managed, these are mental health problems that can continually sideline even the most dedicated efforts to achieve sobriety. As such, Wilmington DE treatment centers often take a whole-health approach to helping patients achieve wellness. Not only does this eliminate the need to self-medicate, but it can also limit the severity of the behavioral or mental health issues that a person is dealing with. Countless studies have shown that both alcoholism and illicit drug use can cause mental health issues to worsen significantly. As such, seeking treatment when personality issues exist can greatly improve a person’s health, sense of well-being, and overall life-quality.
What Treatment Entails When Personality Disorders Exist
Drug and alcohol treatment for those with personality disorders starts much the same as it does for everyone else. During the formative stages of this process, the overarching goal of an inpatient program is simply helping people make it through the challenges of detoxification and withdraw in the safest and most comfortable way possible. Once the body is no longer reliant upon alcohol or illicit drugs, individual and group counseling can begin. Comprehensive medical exams can be performed for those who are suspected of having co-occurring disorders. Along with private therapy, this can help onsite staff make a definitive determination as to whether or not personality disorders exist.
Once these problems have been properly diagnosed, medical treatment can help establish a sense of normalcy and overall control. In instances in which impulsive behaviors have led to addiction, this treatment will make it much easier for patients to overcome temptation, fight off cravings, and start using new and far healthier coping strategies. It’s important to understand that personality disorders and the drive to self-medicate can be both the cause of drug addiction, and the primary stumbling block in the recovering addict’s path to overall wellness. As such, if both issues are not addressed, the likelihood of attaining lifelong sobriety is minimal indeed.
Finding New And Healthier Strategies For Coping
Beyond using medication management plans that are both individualized and needs-specific, Wilmington DE treatment centers also help patients discover a range of natural coping strategies. This helps limit their reliance upon prescription drugs, beyond those medicines that are absolutely necessary for controlling their conditions. They might practice exercises in diaphragmatic breathing, meditation, and even yoga. The goal of these efforts is to make sure that every patient has multiple ways to stay on target and to avoid relapse when cravings and temptations arise.
Counseling also makes patients more adept in identifying the different triggers that cause them to use. With this knowledge, people can avoid tense and unhealthy environments, and they can learn to start limiting relationships and interactions that are not conducive to their long-term success. By establishing boundaries and discovering which actions, activities, and events are most likely to leave them feeling helpless, imbalanced, impulsive, or out of sorts, people can effectively control their behaviors in a manageable and ongoing way. In most instances, when paired with the proper medications, dual-diagnosis therapy and treatment can make the entire recovery process infinitely easier.
Signs That A Dual Diagnosis Program In Wilmington May Be Right For You
As you start the daunting process of searching for a quality and needs-specific treatment program, you should consider the possibility that underlying mental health issues have been derailing your efforts to get sober in the past. You may want to search for a treatment center that’s capable of addressing co-occurring disorders if you:
- Struggle with impulse control
- Use illicit drugs, prescriptions drugs, or alcohol to overcome social discomfort
- Have tried and failed at recovery multiple times before
- Suffer from frequent bouts of anxiety or depression
Counseling services in Wilmington DE can give you the needs-specific help and support you need for succeeding in recovery. Learning more about any personality disorders or other mental health issues that may be impeding your efforts to stay sober can be very empowering. Once the underlying cause of your addiction has been identified, you will be able to fight this battle in an informed and truly effective way. If you’re ready to reclaim your life and start the recovery process, call us today at 772-266-5320.
