Why Anxiety and Addiction Are Treated Together

Anxiety and addiction feed each other.

Anxiety and addiction co-occur because each condition drives the development of the other. The relationship is bidirectional: anxiety creates the conditions in which substance use often begins, and sustained substance use alters brain chemistry in ways that worsen anxiety over time. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, people with anxiety disorders are significantly more likely to develop substance use disorders. The reverse also holds: substance use disorders increase the risk of anxiety through neurological changes that persist well into recovery.

At Jintara, this pattern is consistent. Darren Lockie, founder and CEO: "99% of clients come in with a dual diagnosis. They don't always know to call it that or that they have underlying mental health problems, that they're self medicating with drugs or alcohol." Most people entering treatment did not intend to develop an addiction. They found a substance that reduced their anxiety and used it more often than they planned to. Over time, the substance became part of the problem. Dual diagnosis treatment at Jintara addresses both the addiction and the underlying anxiety concurrently. The anxiety and addiction treatment page explains how the clinical team assesses which came first. It also covers what treatment looks like for each.

The substances most used to manage anxiety.

Alcohol and benzodiazepines are the two substances most commonly used to manage anxiety before a clinical diagnosis is in place. That pattern exists primarily because both suppress the nervous system through GABA system activity, a shared mechanism. For a person living with undiagnosed generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety, or panic disorder, the sedative effect of either substance can feel like relief. Benzodiazepines are frequently prescribed for anxiety disorders, which means many clients arrive at Jintara physically dependent on a prescribed medication they were taking for a legitimate clinical reason.

The clinical difficulty with both substances is that they suppress anxiety without addressing its source.

• They do not change the thought patterns, avoidance behaviours, or physiological responses that maintain anxiety
• Tolerance develops quickly, meaning more of the substance is needed to achieve the same effect
• When either is withdrawn, benzodiazepine-related anxiety or alcohol-related rebound can exceed the levels the person experienced before they began using

This rebound is one of the most common drivers of early relapse, particularly in the first month after leaving treatment.

Stopping the substance reveals the anxiety.

The anxiety experienced during the first week of detox is not the anxiety that will persist. For alcohol and benzodiazepines in particular, withdrawal produces significant rebound anxiety as the brain, deprived of chemicals it relied on for regulation, temporarily overcorrects. This rebound typically peaks in the first several days and settles gradually as the nervous system rebalances. It is a withdrawal effect, not a permanent state.

For people with underlying anxiety disorders, however, symptoms often do not resolve at the same pace as withdrawal. That persistence suggests something beyond medically supervised detox alone is present and often points to a mental health retreat option when low mood travels with the anxiety. The National Institute of Mental Health identifies anxiety disorders as among the most prevalent mental health conditions in adults, and a significant proportion of people with anxiety disorders have used substances to manage symptoms before ever receiving a clinical diagnosis. Distinguishing withdrawal-driven anxiety from pre-existing anxiety is an early clinical priority at Jintara and shapes the treatment plan from the first week.

Anxiety is screened from the first day.

On arrival at Jintara, every client receives a clinical assessment that includes standardised mental health screening.

• The GAD-7 is used to screen for anxiety
• The PHQ-9 for depression
• The PCL-5 for trauma symptoms

These tools establish a baseline on day one. The same tools are repeated every one to two weeks throughout the program so the clinical team can track whether symptoms are resolving with withdrawal or persisting in ways that point to an underlying condition requiring its own therapeutic attention.

Alongside the screening process, clients attend an early assessment with the visiting psychiatrist, who determines whether supportive medication is clinically indicated during the acute phase of withdrawal. The aim is to have pharmacological support in place before it is needed, if anxiety proves severe enough to warrant it in the first week. Denise O'Leary, who holds a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology and is a certified EMDR therapist, leads the clinical team that oversees this process from admission. The screening results inform her approach to therapy from the first individual session.

Anxiety and addiction are treated together.

At Jintara, anxiety receives therapeutic attention from the first week of admission, not after withdrawal resolves. Denise O'Leary describes how this looks in practice: "If they're highly anxious or highly depressed, of course, we'll provide some extra support around that." The clinical team monitors anxiety closely, provides targeted support, and begins teaching basic regulation skills that clients can practice while their body is still adjusting to being substance-free.

This matters because anxiety during early withdrawal is often at its highest when a person's capacity to tolerate it is lowest.

• Grounding techniques
• Sleep hygiene
• Basic cognitive restructuring skills

Teaching these during this window prepares clients to manage the anxiety that remains once withdrawal settles. The treatment program at Jintara is not divided into a medical phase followed by a separate therapeutic phase. The two run concurrently from admission, with the level of therapeutic engagement adjusted to what each client is physically and emotionally ready for in each week of their stay.

Therapy uses CBT, regulation, and grounding.

The reason CBT sits alongside the addiction work rather than after it is the same bidirectional pattern: anxious thought loops feed the urge to use, and using reinforces the thought loops. Denise O'Leary describes the aim: "rewiring thinking processes so they're getting more accurate and more helpful thought patterns, rather than highly biased towards the negative." The holistic therapy sessions add a physiological layer alongside CBT, since the SAMHSA Treatment Improvement Protocol, available via the NCBI Bookshelf, identifies integrated treatment as the clinical standard for co-occurring disorders. Neither piece works as well alone as the two do running together.

EMDR is used when anxiety is rooted in trauma.

Some anxiety has its roots in traumatic experience rather than in the addiction itself. For those cases, eye movement therapy is a trauma-focused approach Denise O'Leary delivers as an EMDRIA-certified therapist, though it is not introduced in a 30-day stay: "I would not treat PTSD in the first month. It's not realistic." For clients who stay 60 days or longer, EMDR becomes the centerpiece of the second month once the addiction is stable enough to support it.

Anxiety stays manageable after treatment.

Untreated anxiety is one of the most reliable relapse triggers: the person leaves treatment, meets the same circumstances that originally drove the substance use, and has no different tool for what they feel. That is the practical case for treating both conditions together rather than the addiction alone. The admissions team discusses continuing care options with every client before the 30-day program ends, so the anxiety work does not stop at discharge. The aim at Jintara is to leave with both conditions understood, not one. That is what treating them together is meant to achieve.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can rehab treat anxiety and addiction at the same time? Yes. At Jintara, anxiety is not placed on hold while detox runs its course. Clinical screening on day one, early psychiatrist assessment, and CBT-based anxiety skills groups all begin from admission. The aim is for clients to leave with both conditions understood and practical tools in place for managing each. Anxiety that proves to be substance-induced typically resolves significantly within two to three weeks as withdrawal settles.
• What happens to my anxiety when I stop drinking? In the first days of alcohol withdrawal, anxiety typically increases. This is a withdrawal effect, not necessarily a sign of a chronic anxiety disorder. Medically supervised detox manages the physical symptoms while the clinical team monitors anxiety levels closely. The clinical distinction between withdrawal-driven anxiety, which resolves as detox progresses, and underlying anxiety that requires ongoing therapeutic attention, is made during the first two weeks.
• What if I am dependent on benzodiazepines prescribed for anxiety? Benzodiazepine dependence with an underlying anxiety disorder is one of the most common clinical presentations at Jintara. Medically supervised benzodiazepine taper is managed by the nursing and psychiatry team. Denise O'Leary's clinical work specifically addresses the rebound anxiety that follows taper, which is expected, temporary, and treated through CBT and grounding practice. The post-taper window, typically three or more weeks after reaching zero, is given dedicated therapeutic support.
• How do I know if my anxiety will be addressed at Jintara, rather than the addiction alone? At Jintara, anxiety is not a secondary concern. Darren Lockie, founder and CEO: "Everything we do is geared towards mental health and the reasons why they self medicate with substances." The program is built on the understanding that treating the addiction without understanding what drives it produces poor long-term outcomes. Anxiety, in most cases, is part of that picture. To discuss how your specific situation would be addressed, speak with the admissions team.