Historically, people addicted to drugs and alcohol were looked at as having something wrong with them; they were considered a moral failure with a character flaw. For that reason, many people with a substance use disorder (SUD) still choose not to seek the help they need—often internalizing the stigma that they are somehow defective.
Too many people still view addiction as a lifestyle choice; identifying the inability to quit as a lack of willpower. Equally misleading is the notion that the substance by itself is causing the addiction. Addiction experts often paint a very different picture. They know that in the vast majority of cases SUDs are driven by trauma, depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.
Last year, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) updated its definition of addiction as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.” The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—a research institute of the federal government—describes addiction as a “complex brain disorder and a mental illness.”
“Drugs are powerful primarily when the rest of your life is broken…By itself, nothing is addictive; drugs can only be addictive in the context of set, setting, dose, dosing pattern, and numerous other personal, biological, and cultural variables,” wrote Maia Szalavitz in her influential 2016 bestseller Unbroken Brain. “Addiction isn’t just taking drugs. It is a pattern of learned behavior.”
Addiction does not have a specific diagnosis code in the latest edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the diagnostic tool American clinicians use to classify mental disorders. Published in 2013, the DSM-V replaced the previous DSM-IV categories of substance abuse and substance dependence with a single new category: substance use disorder (SUD).
Many people with SUD use addictive substances to self-medicate emotional pain resulting from negative life experiences, trauma, depression, or anxiety. This maladaptive coping mechanism can hijack the reward cycle of the brain—with devastating consequences. The intended mitigation for the patient’s mental health condition can quickly exacerbate the very problem the client intended to mitigate.
Why is self-medication so prevalent? Because the co-occurring mental health issues are stigmatized, too. Although mental illness is by no means rare in the United States—one in five adults experience mental illness each year—less than half receive treatment, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “The average delay between the onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years.” In the meantime, many self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. In fact, 19.3 percent of adults with mental illness in the US also experienced a substance use disorder in 2018.
The “complex brain disorder” called addiction requires a holistic, comprehensive, modern treatment approach. Punishment and recrimination do not contribute to the healing process.
At Recovery Ways, the focus is on treating all mental health conditions, including the SUD. Recovery Ways is dually licensed to treat mental health and addiction patients . It’s a powerful, multi-disciplinary combination many other treatment centers cannot offer. The highly qualified treatment team at Recovery Ways includes two psychiatrists, an affiliated family doctor, recreational and occupational therapists, including licensed primary therapists with masters degrees.
Approximately 50 percent of Recovery Ways patients are diagnosed with a mental illness that hasn’t been diagnosed before. Other patients have their diagnoses reassessed and their treatment regimen adjusted accordingly.
“We’re taking care of some of the most complex psychiatric patients across the country,” explains medical director Duy Pham, MD. “Once stabilized in a mental health hospital, they can come to us as primary mental health patients for rehab if they also have substance misuse issues.” {Same question/comment as in the first feedback notes I sent.}
At Recovery Ways, every patient receives evidence-based treatment that addresses both substance misuse and co-occurring mental health concerns. Licensed members of our treatment team help each patient develop an individualized plan tailored to address their specific needs, including re-integration plans for work and home. Our holistic, 360 degree approach to rehabilitation allows patients to heal their mind, body, and spirit and start their life-long journey of recovery from addiction and mental illness.
