Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions in the United States. Data from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) shows that 40 million American adults (aged 18 and older) suffer from anxiety disorders every year. That’s about 18 percent of the US population.
The good news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. Despite this, less than 40 percent of those with these conditions receive proper treatment. In some cases, individuals with anxiety disorders resort to substance use to try and relieve their symptoms.
Because of this, the ADAA estimates that around 20 percent of people with anxiety disorders are also afflicted with substance use disorders.
Why does anxiety lead to drug use? Are anxiety treatments also able to address associated substance use disorders? Let’s find out.
Why anxiety may lead to drug abuse
When you are experiencing symptoms of an anxiety disorder, like trembling, nervousness, difficulty speaking, irritability, and the like, you would want yourself to calm down. Drinking alcohol is a popular way to do this. After a drink, you may begin to feel more relaxed and confident.
While the occasional drink does no harm to your body, you may get used to the relaxing effects of alcohol over time. Eventually, you will no longer feel these effects after just a few drinks. Your body will need more alcohol to feel the same effects. This is called tolerance, and it can build up over time. It may then lead to heavy drinking, which in turn can become an alcohol addiction.
The same holds true if you use other addictive substances, like marijuana, to deal with anxiety symptoms. At first, you may feel yourself improving. But as you keep taking those substances over time, you will eventually develop a substance use disorder.
At the end of it, you will have been suffering from two conditions instead of just one.
How to avoid drugs when you have an anxiety disorder
If you often experience symptoms of anxiety, the best thing to do is to consult a mental health professional. They can help you figure out if you actually have an anxiety disorder. When you have anxiety symptoms, it doesn’t always follow that you have an anxiety disorder. You need to fulfill specific criteria first before being diagnosed with one.
If the mental health professional concludes that you do not have an anxiety disorder, he will teach you techniques to manage your anxiety. These include mindfulness, breathing exercises, and calming statements you can tell yourself each time you feel anxious. These prove helpful in relieving common symptoms of anxiety and help you calm down and think more realistically about the things around you.
On the other hand, if you do have an anxiety disorder, treatments are in order.
What kind of anxiety treatments are available?
Basically, there are two types of anxiety treatments: medications and psychotherapy. The former are prescription drugs used to relieve anxiety symptoms in some patients. Not everyone with anxiety disorders need medications, though. This would depend on the severity of your case.
Psychotherapy, on the other hand, are treatments that deal with your mind and emotions. Some mental health practitioners call them talk therapy because of the conversational nature of the treatments.
There is a wide range of talk therapies used in addressing anxiety disorders, but by far the most effective is called cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. At its core, CBT aims to correct negative patterns of thoughts and behaviors that lead to anxiety.
During CBT, your therapist will train you to identify erroneous thoughts that are not grounded in reality, which in turn trigger anxiety. He will then ask you to consider more realistic and positive alternatives then have you weigh the evidence for both the negative and positive thoughts. Once you realize the positive thoughts have more basis in reality, then your patterns of thinking about anxiety-inducing situations will change.
Once you get the hang of thinking more positively about the things that cause you anxiety, you will feel less and less anxious when in those situations. Eventually, you’ll be able to approach those situations with confidence.
In addition to being highly effective, CBT also does not take long to produce results. Many patients have reported significant improvements in their anxiety symptoms after eight to ten sessions of CBT.
What if I have both an anxiety disorder and a substance use disorder?
If you have two mental health problems occurring at once, this is called a dual diagnosis. It requires special attention since both conditions must be treated side by side. If each one is treated separately, your recovery outcomes are not as good.
Dual diagnosis cases are best treated with residential rehab programs, also known as inpatient rehab. In residential rehab, you need to live inside a rehab facility for anywhere between one to three months, depending on the program you’re enrolled in.
Inside the rehab facility, you will be fully focused on your journey to recovery. You will learn to adopt a new, healthy lifestyle that does not involve addictive substances. Each day, you will attend a number of therapy sessions to help you work through the substance use disorder. Also, you can get into new hobbies in rehab if they offer recreational amenities like sports areas. If you get into a sport, for example, you will learn an entirely new way of coping with stress. Not only is it drug-free, but it keeps your body fit and healthy as well.
Dealing with both anxiety and substance abuse is tough. But when supervised by trained professionals in a residential rehab facility, your chances of recovery are much higher. It may take some time and effort, but at the end of it, you will be able to take control of your life again and live sober.
Infertility
When you drink, alcohol affects your pituitary gland and hypothalamus. Without GnRH, FSH, and LH, the testes cannot produce testosterone. Based on research, testosterone levels drop as quickly as 30 minutes after drinking.
12 ounces of beer (normally at 5% alcohol)
Some treatment facilities assess their effectiveness through the number of patients that successfully go through their rehab programs. Others will look at patients’ continued sobriety during the following years or months to measure their success with the programs. The criteria defining the success of a drug addiction treatment program are flexible. Some programs will use varying types of treatment, while others handle relapse in patients.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse specifies that 40%-60% of patients undergoing drug addiction treatment usually relapse. As a chronic disease, addiction symptoms can reappear even after treatment, so continuous care is necessary. Relapse back to drug use does not mean the treatment was unsuccessful. Some people need more time to improve and heal fully. They might sometimes relapse but go back to sobriety themselves due to skills learned during rehabilitation.
An individual’s success in a drug treatment program will depend on their specific circumstances and the type of program selected. Other factors also influence positive treatment results.
Alcohol abuse has significant effects on the body and the brain, depending on how long one has been using, but it is not easy to undo the damage that has been caused to your body. The brain can start healing itself from the harmful effects of alcohol use in time and recover what it has lost. However, heavy drinking can still affect a person’s memory, attention, and cognitive abilities, which are weakened even when there is alcohol in the bloodstream. Impaired function leads to reduced focus and concentration, as well as decreased reaction times. Alcohol can cause dehydration in anyone who does not take sufficient water to compensate for this, resulting in kidney damage.
Alcohol significantly affects the brain’s complex structures. It also cuts off the chemical signals transmitted between neurons or brain cells, resulting in the typical symptoms of drunkenness such as slowed reflexes, poor memory, slurred speech, and impulsive behavior. If a person continues drinking heavily for a long time, the brain adjusts to the obstructed signals by reacting more dramatically to brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Once the alcohol has left your system, the brain keeps overstimulating these neurotransmitters, leading to painful and possibly dangerous withdrawal symptoms which can harm the brain cells. The damage is worsened by sudden withdrawal and binge-drinking periods.
Even though alcohol abuse can be detrimental to some brain functions, sobriety can restore significant healing to the brain for most people. If you abstain from alcohol early enough, you can be able to reverse most of the physical damage resulting from heavy drinking. After the first week of quitting drinking, communication between the cerebellum and other higher-functioning regions of the brain demonstrates increased performance. This is also experienced well into the recovery period during alcoholism treatment. In the same way brain damage results in cognitive impairment, repaired brain tissue can also improve cognitive functioning. Aside from improvements caused by healed brain tissue, there can also be some cognitive improvement as the brain adjusts to the damage and develops new pathways to replace those damaged by alcohol abuse. The most significant changes in cognitive functioning will be evident after a year of quitting drinking, even though a more extended abstinence period can offer better improvements.
Overcoming substance addiction – Drug rehab equips loved ones with alcohol use disorder with personalized resources to help them overcome their addiction once they get back to their everyday life routine. It offers the person with drug abuse problems a safe, accepting, and supportive environment that allows them to be vulnerable enough to recognize that they have a problem. This vulnerability helps them address their issues and makes it easier to open about their struggles. A normal drug rehab routine incorporates therapy and treatments that help the understand why they keep turning to substance abuse as a form of escape. It makes the sobriety journey easier and makes the look forward to a life that is not a slave to substance abuse.
Health focus – Drug rehab centres its programs and treatment around restoring health and nutrition for the addict. Most people struggling with addiction are malnourished because they constantly pump their system with drug substances. Poor diet is the leading cause of poor energy levels, sleep issues, and headaches, which prevent faster recovery. In most drug rehab facilities, the meals are balanced and of good quantity, making it easier for the patient to have high energy levels that help their recovery. During recovery, patients require a diet that boosts their dopamine levels and has less glycaemic content. A good diet boosts the patient’s mood and overall health, reducing their cravings and preventing relapse.
Treatment and therapies – Therapy is part of the drug rehab programs because it addresses the emotional triggers of the addict. Addressing this makes it easier for them to identify their triggers and replace them with positive and healthy coping mechanisms. The individuals suffering from substance abuse will be able to identify the flaws in their thought process that lead them to make bad decisions. This is a stepping stone to getting a healthy mindset. Some of the therapies include:
Where to live
Often, patients would go home after they’re done with alcohol rehab. This is a good choice if your home environment is supportive, healthy, and relaxing. If not, you may have to move into a sober living home.
One very helpful thing is to do physical activities regularly. Include exercise in your daily routine, as it helps you clear your mind and improve your health. Choose an activity you enjoy for best results. For example, if you enjoy sports like tennis, make it a habit to play several times a week. You can even join a local tennis club.
State-funded insurance
A detox may cost between $300 to $800 a day, with outpatient detox ranging between $1000 to $1500 overall. Detox is the process of eliminating any addictive substances such as alcohol or drugs from the body. When it is medically managed in a safe environment, the patient can get the necessary care and attention to address the painful and possibly fatal withdrawal symptoms. The price of detox may vary based on the associated risks, the prescribed pseudo-medications, and the amount of care provided, to name a few. It is the first step of drug rehabilitation, but it does not deal with the hidden problems that lead to substance abuse. The price of detox typically excludes that of the follow-up treatment programs. The costs of detox usually accumulate daily and can go beyond $1000 a day. Medication assisted-detox can cost more if the treatment center charges the client for the use of drugs like Buprenorphine, Methadone, or Benzodiazepines. If one is going into an inpatient program, the price of detox might be covered by the overall cost of the rehabilitation program.
Aftercare for patients who have left drug rehab is usually free. Most national support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous are free and offer patients a place to be accountable for their recovery. Other recovering individuals also opt for counseling which varies in cost based on the type of therapy. Most sessions range from $75 to $150 per session. Some people also look for sober living housing, a community living set-up aimed at helping one stay clean. Like any other place of residence, these sober living environments can also vary in cost based on the type of housing.
EMDR helps individuals process traumatic information safely until it does not disrupt their lives psychologically. It has eight stages of treatments concentrating on the future, the present, and the past. EMDR is made to split any connections the individual has with specific symptoms and situations. Every phase aims to help the patient work through any trauma and emotional distress while equipping them with the skills to deal with stress.
The therapist also helps the client identify and rate a positive belief and the intensity of any negative emotions. Afterward, the client is asked to concentrate on the body sensations, the negative thought, and the image while experiencing EMDR processing simultaneously using bilateral stimulation. Sets of bilateral stimulation may comprise tones, taps, and eye movements. The length and type of these sets will vary based on each client, and he or she will be asked to pay attention to whatever happens immediately.
Clients who have done EMDR therapy report sleeping differently and having more vivid dreams. They may also be more sensitive to external stimuli and personal interactions with others. There is also evidence that EMDR can help to improve non-traumatic symptoms of mood disorders and can be used as a supplementary treatment for individuals suffering from chronic pain.
Capsules. The capsules are available in quantities of 10mg, 5mg, and 20mg. The milligrams denote the amount of Oxycodone found in the pills.
Simple forms of Oxycodone are taken every four to six hours, but the slow-release forms of the drug are administered every twelve hours. Upon ingestion, pain relief will be experienced within 10 to 15 minutes. Most individuals experience a peak of the drug after 30 minutes to an hour after ingestion.
Extreme fatigue and drowsiness
Breathing difficulties
The fast-acting injections drop, and tablets kick in within 30 minutes to an hour. They are taken for pain that is anticipated to last for a short period. They can, however, be consumed to manage long-term or chronic pain. It is a pretty safe opioid to take as long as the doctor’s instructions are followed to the letter.
It is generally believed that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should not take tramadol. It is riskier to take it during the early stages of pregnancy because it can cause problems to the fetus. At the end of the pregnancy, it has been known to cause withdrawal symptoms in newborns.
