Two Different Diseases, Similar Symptoms

Once again, after “Jerry” came down off his high, he was left feeling sad and depressed. He often felt lower than before he got his fix. This has been going on since college, maybe even high school. Every time it was the same thing. He’d be feeling down and then have a drink and pop some pills to feel better. This was his cycle, although each time after he came down, he’d feel worse and worse. Everything had been going well in his life; family, career, church, friends, people counted on him.

But lately, his concentration has been lacking and he’s been showing up late or not at all. The promises he’d made to his kids were often broken. His wife would often be angry and until she finally stopped talking to him. His co-workers were often left baffled by his behavior.

On its own, drug or alcohol addiction is debilitating and can often lead to devastating results. For some, it’s even more daunting when dealing with a dual diagnosis.

Dual diagnosis occurs when an addict is also afflicted with a mental disorder, such as depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia and other personality disorders. In some cases, the mental disorder causes the addiction, leading people to use drugs or alcohol as a means of medication to feel better. Other times, the addiction itself leads a person to experience mental disorders.

At 12 Palms Recovery Center, dual diagnosis clients are offered a complete set of treatment options designed to deal with the emotional and mental conditions that may have led to their addiction or further exasperated by their addiction. 12 Palms employs a dedicated staff of certified addiction counselors and medical professionals who are well qualified to meet the needs of dual diagnosis clients.

Does this sound like you? You suffer from unbearable anxiety, or crushing depression, but you were too embarrassed or ashamed to seek professional help, so you turned to alcohol or drugs to escape the mental pain and seek relief…

…or perhaps you’ve been diagnosed as bi-polar, but the meds you’ve been prescribed numbed you up too much, made you feel dead inside, so you decided to use alcohol or drugs to ‘even out’ your emotions.

But now, the problem is that the “cure” has become the illness, and you can’t stop.

You’re not alone.

Consider that an estimated 40 million Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder, and 19 million suffer from major depressive disorder, and it’s easy to understand how someone might turn to alcohol or drugs for relief—and how that can turn into a self-destructive pattern of addiction.

In fact, a co-occurring mental or emotional disorder is an all-too common problem with someone struggling with substance abuse.