Mental Health : Anxiety and Depression

Addiction often goes hand-in-hand with mental health conditions, usually anxiety, depression or both.  Both anxiety and depression can be caused by addiction. However, sometimes anxiety comes first and alcohol or drugs (including prescription medication) help take the edge off the gnawing fear or control panic attacks.  

Sometimes depression comes first and it can seem impossible to get out of bed or to get through the day without the help of a drink, medication or some other substance.

This can lead to a cycle where more and more of the substance is needed, but the underlying feelings and their causes are only getting worse.  The effects of the substance become part of the problem. This creates a seemingly inescapable trap.

Treating the mental health condition while continuing to use the substance is often ineffective, because the substances impair cognitive functioning and interfere with restoring normal emotional responses.

Any attempt to reduce or stop using the substance leads to an intensification of the anxiety or depression.  This quickly becomes unbearable.

To break the cycle, it is necessary to treat the addiction and the mental health condition at the same time.  At Jintara we provide comprehensive treatment for both your addiction and the other conditions that are associated with it.  We provide a safe, yet stimulating environment, where your brain’s reward system can start to recover and return to pre-addiction levels.  At the same time, with the support of your therapist you will explore the causes of the mental health issues, and learn new, more effective ways of dealing with these without needing substances.

At Jintara, the goal of treatment is not just abstinence – it is a life which is rewarding and fulfilling.