Depression & Addiction Treatment

Managing depression is an everyday struggle; the situation becomes even more complex and challenging if you suffer from substance abuse. Both conditions feed off and reinforce one another, making them ticking bombs that must be defused as soon as possible.

Treatment requires a holistic approach, which acknowledges the complicated interaction between both conditions, and offers an effective treatment for their effect on your physical and mental health.

Signs of Depression

Although each person’s individual experience can greatly differ, there is considerable overlap in many symptoms, even if the degree to which they disrupt an individual’s life will vary. Here is a list of many of the most common signs that a person is going through some form of depression:

• Mood swings leading to angrily lashing out at people, irritation and impulsivity, and inability to control emotions
• Powerful and overwhelming feelings of despair, hopelessness, and emptiness
• Lack of interest and enjoyment in previously loved hobbies, sports and activities
• Sleep disruptions leading to insomnia or sleeping too much
• Physical and mental fatigue and a general lack of energy
• Brain fog, disorientation and slowed cognitive processing
• Hyper-focus on past mistakes and intense feelings of guilt, shame and self-doubt
• Heightened sensitivity to stress, restlessness and anxiety
• Thoughts about suicide and self-harm

Co-Occurring Depression and Substance Abuse

In many cases, there is an overlap, and you may be one of them. Are you abusing alcohol while suffering from depression? Although there is a wide variety of substances that people turn toward, alcohol and weed are the most popular choices that co-occur with symptoms of depression.

A possible explanation ties the popularity, accessibility and normalisation of alcohol as a possible reason, while some other experts claim that many misinformed people try to fight the side effects of antidepressants, like anxiety and restlessness, with alcohol since it’s a depressant. Unfortunately, such misguided actions cause more harm than good, as alcohol misuse can significantly worsen symptoms of depression.

Both conditions are deeply interconnected, as people who suffer from alcohol use disorder are more likely to experience depression symptoms and vice versa. For instance, alcohol consumption is often used as a coping mechanism for depressive symptoms. Unfortunately, the connection goes down ways because the way alcohol changes brain chemistry can exacerbate depressive disorders.

Describing Dual Diagnosis

A dual diagnosis recognises that two or more co-occurring disorders negatively impact a person’s life. In the case of drug and alcohol dependence and clinical depression, both conditions have their own individual symptoms, if side effects overlap, they worsen the symptoms, and in many cases, one condition can worsen the harm of the other. For example, the mood swings that one has due to depression can significantly worsen if they are actively drinking.

Why Do Patients Abuse Anti-Depressants and Alcohol

In many cases, patients abuse antidepressants and alcohol due to an outdated and misguided belief that taking both will smoothen the side effects of the other and increase the “high” you get out of both. Unfortunately, the total opposite is true since taking alcohol actually increases symptoms of depression, like lack of energy and mood swings, while also stopping antidepressants from working effectively to treat those symptoms.

In other cases, people abuse antidepressants and alcohol because their individual effects offer a chance for short-term relief from stress, emotional struggles, and other sources of dissatisfaction in life. For example, people go off prescriptions and take more frequent and higher doses of antidepressants if they don’t get the desired effect, and after mixing with alcohol because they often find that the prescription medicine doesn’t work, which creates a vicious cycle of abuse.

Signs of Prescription Medication Abuse

Prescription medication abuse often leads to a physical and psychological dependence in the victim, which shows itself in many of the following signs:

• Fatigue
• Nausea and vomiting
• Flu-like symptoms
• Disorientation
• Loss of memory
• Brain fog
• Mood swings
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Intense cravings
• Detachment and loss of interest in previous hobbies, passions and interests
• Social distancing and isolation from friends and loved ones
• Asking for prescription medication from friends and relatives and visiting multiple GPs
• Defensiveness and changing of conversation when confronted about a potential issue

Substance Abuse as a Mental Health Condition Correlated to Depression

Both substance abuse and depression can have an acutely negative effect on brain chemistry by suppressing the production of essential neurotransmitters. For depression its the brain’s inability to produce serotonin and other essential chemicals that stabilise your mood. In many cases, the euphoric sensation and flooding of energy which people experience when consuming a substance like alcohol, cocaine, crystal meth and many others come from the sudden release of “feel good” chemicals like dopamine.

Unfortunately, the effect doesn’t last forever, and once the “crash” comes, the person suddenly feels completely demotivated, depleted of energy, and full of negative emotions. The feelings of apathy, numbness, fatigue, and impairments in cognitive function show similarity to depression symptoms, which is why cases of substance abuse, like alcohol use disorder, can lead to the development of or exacerbate symptoms of depression.

Connection Between Alcoholism and Major Depression

People with depression are more likely to drink too much or become dependent on it. Depression is a mental health condition that causes people to feel sad and without hope all the time. People’s thoughts and actions change over time because of how they feel. This can have an effect on many parts of a person’s life, such as work, personal goals, and relationships with family and friends.

Support for Families

If you are suffering from depression and are using alcohol to get rid of the symptoms of your illness, like irritability, loss of interest, anxiety, restlessness, and trouble sleeping, you are fuelling the condition instead of helping. Drinking as a way to escape reality and unwind is, unfortunately, using alcohol to treat your depression. It can have an enormous effect on your physical and emotional health.

Neurotransmitters in the brain are changed by drinking a lot of alcohol. Chemicals like serotonin and dopamine will change quickly when you drink alcohol. Serotonin helps keep a person’s mood in check, while dopamine controls the reward system in the brain. When these chemicals are at levels that are too high or too low, they can cause (or worsen) your depression and many other health problems.

The Three Stages of Rehabilitation

Usually, there are three stages of rehabilitation upon admission for a dual diagnosis when you are suffering from depressive disorders and an addiction to substances, such as alcohol: Detox (if needed), rehab & aftercare. They are valid for all kinds of addiction treatment, but will happen differently if you are also suffering from PTSD>

Therapies in Dual Diagnosis with Depression

CBT

Cognitive behavioural therapy is an evidence-based approach to addiction treatment, which focuses on uplifting a person’s mental health by eliminating “automatic negative thoughts”. Many people who suffer from depression are used to cycles of scathingly negative thoughts full of shame and self-doubt, which are not only painful but can trigger cravings for a substance. CBT seeks to teach people how to understand those thoughts, deconstruct them and reshape personal narratives they have about themselves.

DBT

Stress and anxiety are some of the most severe negative sensations we, as humans, can experience, but the accumulating distress is often responsible for compulsive behaviour, leading to relapse in addiction treatment. Through building a positive self-image, teaching mindfulness practices for anxiety management, and stress tolerance skills, DBT helps you manage the distress in your everyday life better and teaches you how to effectively communicate problems and seek help.

Interpersonal Therapy

The way a person treats other people, the respect, love and validation they receive from relationships, and the ability to effectively communicate thoughts and feelings are all crucial for the strength of relationships. In many cases, family issues and conflicts with loved ones can cause immense amounts of stress that worsen symptoms of depression and push you, or your loved ones, toward addiction. Inversely, dual diagnosis puts a strain on your relationships.

Interpersonal therapy focuses on the patterns of behaviour in relationships, evaluates current situations with close ones, and offers practical solutions to improve the strength between those close bonds.

Group Therapy

Group therapy offers a safe and inclusive space where you can share your struggles, hear about the issues that other people are facing, maybe offer help yourself, and get motivation, guidance and inspiration from those around you who are also fighting their own demons.

Medication Management

Dealing with substance abuse, like alcohol addiction, alongside mental disorders like depression, requires a fine balance. In residential rehabilitation, patients who have a dual diagnosis will undergo a gradual reduction of the substance they are taking so that the physical dependence is slowly removed. Since the withdrawal symptoms can worsen the effects of depression, upon consultation with medical experts, they may get prescribed other medications, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, to reduce the intensity of depressive symptoms.

Helplines and Listening Services

Here are some essential helplines which can help you find assistance. These UK helplines will also be an invalunable friend during your recovery:

Are you or a loved one in immediate danger? Call 999 and do not hesitate to ask for help!

NHS 111 online service, or call 111

National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK on 0800 689 5652 (6pm–3:30am every day).

In Wales, you can call the Community Advice and Listening Line (C.A.L.L.) on 0800 132 737

‘Shout’ crisis text line – text SHOUT to 85258