Substance Use Disorders and Mental Illness
Substance use disorders (SUDs), like other chronic diseases, are treatable. The highly trained SUD treatment providers at Recovery & Wellness Professional Services can determine the best treatment path for individuals to take and can enlist the assistance of our best associates for psychiatric help in the treatment process.
Our SUD treatment plans are designed specifically for each client on an individual basis. We factor in the client’s individual goals while also considering various proven approaches to treatment, issues related to gender sensitive treatment, and barriers that may impede individuals from receiving treatment.
SUD Symptoms and Treatment
A SUD is a medical condition with significant behavioral effects. These behaviors usually cause havoc in a person’s life. While individual experiences vary, persons with a SUD often have:
- Little experience or skills with which to cope with their feelings. Their substance use tends to numb discomfort, at least temporarily. Many of these individuals have been turning to drugs and alcohol for years.
- Difficulty escaping or solving everyday problems without using substances. As a result, they can feel quite helpless when confronted with the day-to-day challenges of life.
- Poor communication skills. They may be ineffective in some areas and over-emote in others.
- Problematic behaviors, such as being manipulative or dishonest. These behaviors may be useful, however, in helping them obtain drugs and alcohol, or hiding the use of these substances. Some individuals with SUDs may find it easy to be dishonest because they have buried or avoided their true feelings.
The goal of treatment at Recovery & Wellness Professional Services is for Lawrence Farber L.C.S.W. to help individuals break the cycle of addiction and dependence so they may learn better ways of dealing with challenges in their lives. Recovery is a lifelong process with treatment being one of the first steps. Recovery entails making lifestyle changes to regain control of one’s life and accepting responsibility for one’s own behavior.
Research has demonstrated that SUD treatment is effective. A number of national studies over the past decades have shown that SUD treatment can result in abstinence from substance use, significant reduction in the abuse of substances, decreased criminal activity, and increased employment. Furthermore, treatment has been shown to be cost-effective and to reduce costs in such areas as crime, health care, and unemployment.
Mental Illness
What is Mental Illness?
A mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.
Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder. The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible. Here at Recovery & Wellness Professional Services, we make treatment a reality.
Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion or socioeconomic status. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan.