What are you doing to look after your mental health?
That question might surprise you here in a blog about substance use disorders, treatment, and recovery. But it shouldn’t.
Good mental health is important for everyone—in just the same way that physical health is important for everyone. That said, the stakes around mental health can be especially high for a person in recovery from a substance use disorder. That is because mental health challenges and substance use issues are frequently entangled with one another.
As a result, it is absolutely essential to prioritize your mental health if you are eager to keep your recovery intact.
Let’s take a look at the connection between mental health and successful recovery. And let’s start by identifying an issue you do not need to spend any time worrying about.
Don’t Worry About the ‘Chicken or the Egg’
It might be tempting to spend time trying to figure out whether a mental health challenge led to your substance use disorder or your substance use disorder led to a mental health challenge. You might think of this as a variation on that famous stumper, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
It is possible that you can, in fact, determine which came first, the mental health disorder or the substance use disorder. But in a very real sense, it does not matter at all.
What does matter is remembering that just as the two types of disorders are often entangled, so too are good mental health and ongoing recovery. Staying on top of your mental health needs is a good way to protect your recovery; keeping your recovery going is a great way to support your mental health.
The time you might spend pondering the timeline of the development of mental health and substance use disorders would be better spent seeking out effective and ongoing treatment to improve your mental health.
Treatment for Mental Health Is Both/And, Not Either/Or
When thinking about mental health treatment, two paths might come to mind. You might wonder if therapy is the best route for you. You might also wonder if medication is the right way to go.
Therapy and medication can each be an effective way to treat a variety of mental health disorders. But it is often the combination of the two that serves people best. Having a conversation with your doctor can be a great way to get started because they can recommend resources, mental health professionals, and more.
Being open and honest with your medical professionals is a key component of finding effective strategies to help you address the symptoms of mental health disorders. That might mean overcoming some reluctance to talk about such things.
Don’t Let Stigma—or Any Other Concern—keep You from Getting Help
If you are in recovery, you know a thing or two about convincing yourself to get the help you need. When you first decided to seek out treatment for a substance use disorder, you may have spent some time talking yourself into it. You might have been reluctant for any number of reasons.
Maybe you were telling yourself you did not really have a problem—or that if you did have a problem, you could successfully tackle it on your own. You might have been worried that other people would judge you harshly if they found out you need treatment for a substance use disorder. It is possible you were convinced you simply could not take any time away from your day-to-day responsibilities to get the help you needed.
In the end, however, you realized that leaving drugs or alcohol behind was critical—and that you needed help to do it.
You may be going through the same sort of process when it comes to seeking help for a mental health concern. Let us encourage you to jump to the last step—the step where you decide that getting help is the best move. It absolutely is.
But what if you are currently struggling with drugs or alcohol? You will probably not be surprised by our answer to that particular question.
Seek Out Substance Use Disorder Treatment
The best way to free yourself from the terrible effects of ongoing drug or alcohol use is to seek out treatment. At The Aviary Recovery Center—located near St. Louis, Missouri—we offer medically supervised detoxification to help you safely get dangerous substances out of your system.
We follow detox with a rehabilitation program that includes treatment for any mental health disorders that may be in play. This can be a wonderful start to pursuing ongoing mental health care when your time in treatment comes to an end.
The Aviary is also committed to providing ongoing resources and support after treatment so that you can start your recovery with confidence.
You can reclaim your life from a substance use disorder. You can also improve your mental health and maintain those improvements over time. The Aviary Recovery Center—consistently recognized as a leading substance use treatment facility—is able to help with both of those life-changing projects.
