Mental health and addictions treatments are nothing new in the world of medicine. For centuries, mental health and addictions treatment centers have been educating and developing solutions to the challenges that many people face when dealing with addictions.

Mental Health and Addiction Treatment

There is a vast array of mental health and addiction treatment options available. Addicts receive treatment from physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health specialists.

Woman, Cage, Birds, Puzzle, Autism

The majority of mental health treatment programs delve deeply beneath the surface to the more complex psychological issues that cause self-destructive and addictive behaviors. Whether you are struggling with compulsive eating, emotional trauma, depression or stress, addictions or intimacy issues, there are highly successful mental health and addiction treatment facilities that address everything that stands in between you and lifelong sobriety mood disorders. Many co-occurring disorders are treated in one of several ways. These disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders.

Depression can be treated using various medications such as antidepressants, mood stabilizers and anticonvulsants. Co-occurring or related mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia can be treated using pharmacological interventions combined with psychotherapy and behavioral therapies to treat the underlying mental illness. Substance abuse or opioid use disorder is treated using methadone, buprenorphine and other medication therapy interventions.

An addiction to a controlled substance such as alcohol, cocaine, heroin or marijuana is treatable with detoxification, outpatient counseling, medication, group therapy and behavioral therapy. The most severe cases require inpatient admission to an addiction treatment facility. Psychotherapy and counseling form the foundation for mental health and addiction treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy, social skills training and lifestyle counseling are the most common forms of treatment for patients with co-occurring disorders.

Youth, adolescents and young adults represent a rapidly growing segment of the population grappling with substance use disorders. A recent article in the Mayo Clinic illustrated the increased risk of suicide and other serious mental illnesses for these persons. In the past, substance use disorders were recognized as a condition only for adults, but it is now known that young adults, boys in particular, are increasingly at risk for substance use disorders.

Today more adolescents and young adults are receiving treatment for substance use disorders. Many of these disorders are associated with depression and anxiety. However, the increasing trend is for younger children, teens, and young adults to be diagnosed with addiction disorders such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and chronic mental illness. An integrated approach to the treatment of mental health disorders and addiction presents a very promising prospect for improvement in the quality of life for those suffering.