If you check out the health website of the state of Rhode Island, you will find that there is a very strong correlation between substance abuse and mental illnesses. In fact, substance abuse in Rhode Island is considered to be nothing more or less than a psychiatric problem and as you read further on their health website, you will find that even the treatment program chalked out for it is in accordance with this belief. Treatment for substance abuse in Rhode Island is of a similar form and manner as it should be for some kind of mental illness. So, how far is this consideration valid?

Is Substance Abuse a Mental Illness?

For this, we need to analyze the way the body works when a person starts using a substance for recreational purposes. This is how most of them work:-

When a person consumes the substance, the substance will send triggers to the nervous system of the body, which will then increase the secretion of some chemicals that are important for the feeling of happiness that the body experiences, most notably dopamine. The main draw during the initial abuse of the substance is this production of dopamine. The person is consuming the substance actually to condition the mind to release dopamine so that that feeling of pleasure can be experienced.

Now, as the person begins consuming more and more of the substance, the mental system of the person gets immunized and does not secrete as much dopamine as it did in the earlier instances. Consequently, the person begins stepping up the dosage of the substance. This is the beginning of the unbroken cycle of addiction; the person consumes a drug to make the mind happy, but the mind is dissatisfied with that particular amount and asks more of it.

If you consider this now, you will find that the urge for consuming the substance occurs right in the brain of the person. Though the person is physically consuming the substance, the part of the body that is asking for it is the brain and the nervous system. Hence, it does seem quite logical to pair substance abuse with mental illnesses.

So how is the Treatment for Substance Abuse in Rhode Island carried out on These Lines?

If substance abuse in Rhode Island is considered as a mental illness, it is quite understandable that the treatment will be done in a similar fashion too. That is indeed the case and it is quite a helpful one at that, considering that it becomes more effective at the overall treatment. Consider the following points:-

1. The detox program, though very prominently present and used for most kinds of addiction in Rhode Island, is not the end of the treatment program. In fact, if you check out the patterns on substance abuse treatment in Rhode Island, you will find that detox is merely the beginning of the entire treatment program. While the detox aims at cleansing the body of the person from the accumulation of the substances in it, it is the later part of the treatment program that is the most relevant part. This is the part where the person is taken into a counseling therapy. The counseling is targeted at helping the person come out of the tendency of using the substance. This is definitely a method of treating the mind rather than the body.

2. If you were to check out the various therapies that are taught during the relapse prevention program in any rehab center in Rhode Island, you will see that there is definitely a focus on treating the mind. People are taught meditation and relaxation exercises to free their mind from the shackles of the addiction. In fact, in a residential treatment center in Rhode Island, you will find that the major bulk of the program consists of treating the patients in this manner.

3. There is actually a program that deals with treating the body and the mind together during substance abuse treatment in Rhode Island. This is the dual diagnosis program. Basically speaking, the dual diagnosis treatment program is meant for the treatment of coexisting conditions, but in the realm of substance abuse treatment in Rhode Island, it is mostly applies to the treatment of mental illnesses that occur along with substance abuse (which incidentally is also a mental illness). Here, the patient will be provided psychiatric counseling and the treatment for both conditions will be done on an almost simultaneous footing. This is a clear example of how substance abuse is considered to be a mental illness in the state treatment program in Rhode Island.



Thanks to Todd Lange for contributing this article to our Addiction blog:

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Check out the addiction treatment program in Florida and you will find how much emphasis is laid on the concept of substance abuse being a mental condition. Today, substance abuse in Florida is considered to be on par with other conventionally known mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, stress disorder, depression, schizophrenia, hallucinations, phobias, etc. Just as these ailments reside in the mind and control the person from that dominating center, even substance abuse is believed to be a controller of the user’s body from a point within the brain.

Why is Substance Abuse in Florida considered to be a Mental Illness?

For years, various approaches had been forwarded by experts to explain why substance abuse makes a person so captivated by it the way it does. Till about a decade ago, substance abuse in Florida was still thought to be a habit, just as any other simple habit that a person might suffer from. It was believed that in a highly controlled environment, the person will be able to come out of this “habit” completely. That was the approach to addiction treatment anyway. People who were under various forms of addiction were subjected to torturous punishments in treatment centers when they were not able to keep away from using the substance because substance abuse was considered to be no more than a “habit” and the general belief was that all habits can definitely be controlled.

However, today the situation has changed drastically. Today we know that substance abuse is not a mere “habit”. It is something even larger than a dependency though we name it as that most of the time. When a person consumes a particular addictive substance, it might trigger the brain to release some pleasure inducing hormones. This is what creates the rush of emotions in the person which he or she begins to enjoy immensely.

Once this rush is produced, it is recorded in the right centers of the brain. Some time later, the brain will want to duplicate that feeling. This is when the brain sends messages that it wants more of the substance. This leads the person to obtain more of the same drug and use it to experience that heady feeling.

This is the cycle that keeps continuing now. The brain asks for more of the substance, the body provides it, the brain gets the euphoric sensation and sometime later it asks for more of the substance. If the body is not able to give the substance to the brain when it asks, it may react in violent ways, which is what withdrawal is all about.

The Dangers of Substance Abuse being a Mental Condition

The whole point here is that being a mental condition, substance abuse is much more difficult to treat. A habitual tendency can be easily controlled with some measure of strictness. But that is not possible in the case of the mental dependency that substance abuse creates. Over time, the brain will want to have more and more of the substance, and the body will be forced to give it. The person will begin overstepping the dosage and a time will come when the person will not know that amount of the substance being used is now getting in fatally deep waters. This is what we commonly call as an overdose.

Being a mental condition, substance abuse is much more difficult to treat. It is difficult to shake a habit that gets so deeply ingrained in the person’s body and mind. Also, if the substance abuse is tried to be treated earlier, there’s a much higher chance of complete recovery than later. This is, of course, another evidence that substance abuse is a mental condition.

How is Substance Abuse in Florida treated?

In the light of substance abuse being a mental condition, the treatment program in Florida for it is much stricter and focuses a lot on the mental aspect of the addiction. You can see an example of that with the dual diagnosis treatment program in which the person is treated simultaneously for the addiction as well as for an underlying coexisting condition which could very well be a mental problem. In such treatment methods, the treatment oscillates between treating the person for the addiction and for the coexisting condition.

Even in a single treatment approach, substance abuse is treated with care and counseling just as a mental condition would be handled. There is a detox treatment, but this is always followed by a lengthy aftercare program which would help the patient in really coming out of the addiction and into a life of complete sobriety.



Thanks to Todd Lange for contributing this article to our Addiction blog:

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