Anxiety & Addiction

If you’re one of the 18 percent of Americans that suffer from an anxiety disorder, you are at greater risk of acquiring an addiction, or substance abuse disorder. People with anxiety are two to three times more likely to become dependent on drugs. 20 percent of the people with an anxiety disorder also develop an addiction. The impending, and often irrational, fears that an anxiety disorder induces make it more likely for an individual to try using drugs or alcohol in the first place.

People with social anxiety may drink or use drugs to feel at ease, to fit in, or to be able to engage in social conversation with people they don’t know. Even if the high from a substance makes a person’s anxiety more acute or intense, an individual may continue to experiment with drugs for the veil that they wrap around reality.

Then, becoming addicted to the substance that is experimented with is more plausible with anxiety because drugs often generate a euphoric feeling that relieves or masks the person’s anxiety and depression. However, it is never a sound strategy to combat mental instability with drugs because the dopamine releasing effects of intoxicating substances makes the anxiety-ridden person feel more anxious and depressed after they have stopped using the drug, which is one of the tell-tale details of the vicious cycle of addiction.

If you or anyone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol, please call Right Path Drug Rehab immediately so we can connect you with the ideal drug rehab center for the situation at hand.

Anxiety is one the mental disorders that is included in screening for dual diagnosis treatment at an effective addiction recovery center. After becoming addicted to a drug or alcohol, the anxiety is agitated by the withdrawal symptoms that are experienced during detox. At one of the addiction treatment facilities within our network, clients are treated for their co-occurring mental and addiction disorders. Before effectively caring for a substance dependency, psychologists must identify and address mental health illnesses like anxiety, which are often the route cause for addiction.

So if you are experiencing intense anxiety; feelings of everything closing in, inevitable failure, lack of time, or impending doom, it is imperative to get treated for the disorder. Self-medication with any sort of drugs or alcohol will only make the problem worse as the degree of anxiety increases, along with the endless variety of problems that come from an unhindered, rampant addiction.

Losing relationships, careers, financial stability, and sanity are all risks that go into drug abuse and addiction. Treating an anxiety disorder, however, will only garner the love and support of those closest to you. It will not push people away like self-medicating inevitably will.

If you or anyone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol, it is pivotal not to waste time. Getting treatment for addiction is most effective when it begins immediately. Call Right Path Drug Rehab as soon as you can and we will help pair your situation to some of the finest substance abuse treatment facilities in the world.