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Anxiety Rehab in New Jersey
Dual Diagnosis: Anxiety and Substance Use Disorders
Fear is a reaction to the anticipation of danger, and anxiety is a reaction to fear. While anxiety can come in many different forms, it’s commonly experienced as a persistent dread that involves a future-oriented mood state.[1] Even if nothing is immediately dangerous, you’re still on edge, worrying about future events.
It’s exhausting to remain vigilant for so long. For some people, the only escape from their fear is substance abuse. The only way around their fears is a substance-induced flood of neurotransmitters and hormones.
Anxiety and substance are co-occurring disorders that require a dual diagnosis treatment that addresses both disorders on a holistic level.
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If you or a loved one is ready to get help but finances are holding you back, give us a call. We can work with your health insurance provider.
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Table of Contents
Real-Life Challenges of Living With Anxiety
Imagine never feeling truly at peace.
You could be at your house with sleeping children in the other room but unable to stop thinking about whether the windows in their room are secure in case of an intruder.
Anxiety and substance are co-occurring disorders that require a dual diagnosis treatment that addresses both disorders on a holistic level.[2]
Good news only sounds like bad news, and bad news sounds even worse. Pretty soon, people will stop sharing any type of news with you for fear of your predictably negative reaction. And you won’t mind one bit because you have enough of your own fears to worry about.There are several specific types of anxiety disorders
There are several specific types of anxiety disorders[3]:
- Separation Anxiety Disorder: Atypical fear of separation from attachment figures.Â
- Selective Mutism: Failure to speak in social settings
- Specific Phobia: Different fears posed by specific objects or situations.
- Social Anxiety Disorder: People with this fear imagine social scrutiny, embarrassment, rejection, humiliation, or offense.Â
- Panic Disorder: Episodes of panic attacks that happen often and unexpectedly. Some symptoms of panic attacks are irregular heartbeat, sweating, shortness of breath, fear of going crazy, or fear of dying.Â
- Agoraphobia: The fear of not being able to escape
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A vague and nonspecific worry that remains for weeks, months, or years. It’s more than small worries every day. It’s worrying about everything every day, all day long.
- Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder: Often due to drugs like stimulants, opiates, or psychedelics, this disorder involves anxiety symptoms due to substance use or withdrawal.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders
While all anxiety disorders have slightly different symptoms, a good place to start diagnosing is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Some GAD symptoms include[4]:
- Persistent worry about inconsequential, little things
- Unable to control worrying feelings
- Difficult relaxing
- Difficult concentrating
- Easily startling
- Have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
- Unexplainable exhaustion
- Have headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches, or unexplained pains
- Difficulty swallowing
- Muscle spasms
- Irritability
- Sweating, lightheadedness, or breathlessness
- Frequent urination
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder
According to the DSM-V (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), there must be 2 of 11 criteria present during a 12-month period preceding diagnosis to qualify for substance-use disorder[5]:
- The substance use amount exceeds what was intended and takes longer than desired.
- While the intention to decrease use exists, it has yet to be met with failed attempts.
- Extra time and effort expended to use the substance and/or recover after taking them.Â
- Strong craving for the substance.Â
- Substance use negatively affects current responsibilities.Â
- Continued substance use despite social and occupational damage.
- Regular activities (i.e., hobbies or community involvement) are reduced or given up due to continued substance use.Â
- Driving while using the substance or other high-risk setting.
- Continued substance use despite psychological and physical damage.
- Tolerance
- Withdrawal
Anxiety and Substance Use Disorders
A licensed professional needs to be present for an official dual diagnosis. Using the criteria outlined above, a physician can officially give a clinical diagnosis for co-occurring anxiety and substance-use disorder (if they, in fact, exist). While dual diagnosis treatment starts immediately following the diagnosis, both diagnoses may not be able to be obtained simultaneously.
Sometimes, the symptoms of drug use can mimic the symptoms of anxiety. For instance, a high dose of psychedelics or stimulants can cause anxiety in users. Once the substance is eliminated from the body, the anxiety symptoms should go away, too.Â
However, if substance use is chronic, the anxiety symptoms might become more entrenched and difficult to eradicate. Your physician needs to know that what they are diagnosing is a separate condition from any pre-existing substance-use disorders (if any exist at all).
Risk Factors of Anxiety and Substance Abuse
The complex interplay between drugs and anxiety is still a matter of research.
Anxiety disorders appear to be caused by an interaction of multiple biopsychosocial factors. Genetic vulnerability interacts with situations that are stressful or traumatic to produce clinically significant syndromes.
Substance use disorders are associated with childhood trauma, poverty, inadequate parental supervision, impulse-control problems, and age of first use.
Some shared risk factors for co-occurring anxiety and substance abuse are:
- Childhood trauma
- Lack of parental supervision
- Poverty
- Unmanaged stress
- Poor coping skills
- Low tolerance for physical or emotional distress
Anxiety and Addiction Statistics
9.2 million people in the United States have co-occurring disorders such as mental health and substance use disorders.[6]
Anxiety and alcohol abuse often go hand-in-hand. One out of every three people with alcohol-use disorder has experienced severe anxiety.[7]
31.1% of US adults had experienced anxiety at some point in their lives, while 19.2% experienced anxiety within the last year.[8] The prevalence of anxiety disorder was 50% higher for females (38.0%) than for males (26.1%).[9]
Treating Anxiety and Addiction
If you are suffering from substance use and anxiety, seek treatment immediately.
Your physician will first perform a dual diagnosis to determine whether or not you have co-occurring anxiety and substance use disorders. If you meet or exceed the criteria outlined in the DSM-V, the next step is to begin treatment.
Dual-diagnosis treatment programs have four distinct phases:
- Medical DetoxÂ
- Partial Care
- Intensive Outpatient
- Outpatient Treatment
- Aftercare
During detox, you will be given medication-assisted therapy as a compassionate form of managing your withdrawal symptoms. You will continue this regimen for a few months or even years as you retrain your brain to function without using drugs as a coping mechanism.
Your care team will decide which intensity level of care you need: Partial (hospital), intensive outpatient (residential), or outpatient (stable home life). While enrolled in a treatment program, you will engage in different therapies to help you build sober routines and habits. Some of these therapies could include:
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At Absolute Awakenings, we take information integrity seriously. We have dedicated our resources to ensure that all content published to our blog is medically sound. As such, all content on our blog has been thoroughly reviewed by a doctorate level clinician such as a Medical Doctor, or Psy.D, so that you can trust all of the data we publish.
Mental Health
We Accept With Most Major Insurance
If you or a loved one is ready to get help but finances are holding you back, give us a call. We can work with your health insurance provider.
Related Topics
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Interpersonal Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Yoga Therapy
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Frequently Asked Questions About Anxiety and Addiction
What are some natural remedies for anxiety?
There is no “cure” for anxiety. Long-term management involves multiple healthy, situation-dependent coping mechanisms.
One natural way to escape the vicious cycle of swirling fear is by engaging in positive, realistic self-talk. Rather than letting the negative voices in your head drown out the positive voices, don’t let overly optimistic or pessimistic thoughts dominate your head. Rather, stick to reasonable, realistic thoughts.
Go on a walk or pick up a hobby that soothes your mind. Something like sewing or knitting is great for nervous fingers. Practice mindfulness through yoga.
How do I overcome my addiction and anxiety?
The first step to overcoming your anxiety and substance abuse is recognizing you have a problem. If you think you have co-occurring disorders, ask your physician for a dual diagnosis.
Both disorders must be managed for the rest of your life. It will take months or years of treatment and holistic therapy. You’ll have to set realistic goals for progress. But, if you’re committed to success, you can live the sober life you dream of.
Is addiction a symptom of anxiety?
No, addiction is not a symptom of anxiety. Sometimes, addiction is an unhealthy coping mechanism in response to anxiety symptoms, vis a vis how some people use substances to eliminate the persistent dread of anxiety they can’t seem to shake off.
Addiction and anxiety require separate, simultaneous, and integrated treatments to ensure the best chance for long-term sobriety.
What is the relationship between anxiety and addiction?
While there are distinct physical manifestations of anxiety and substance use disorder, both disorders have a shared biopsychosocial component.
Substance use disorder presents many different physical symptoms depending on what substance is being abused (e.g., respiratory depression, hallucinations, euphoria, mania, anxiety, etc.), whereas anxiety disorder presents many of the same physical symptoms (e.g., sleep disturbances, exhaustion, irritability, etc.).
But, both disorders have a biopsychosocial component, which means they also have a genetic, environmental, and biological component to them. Your genes, living situation, and any childhood trauma can influence whether or not you experience the symptoms of these disorders.
Sources
[1][3] R;, C. S. (n.d.). Anxiety. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29262212/
[2] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Substance use and co-occurring mental disorders. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health
[4] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.-a). Generalized anxiety disorder: When worry gets out of Control. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad
[5] Substance use disorder – statpearls – NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK570642/
[6] Co-occurring disorders and other health conditions. SAMHSA. (n.d.). https://www.samhsa.gov/medications-substance-use-disorders/medications-counseling-related-conditions/co-occurring-disorders
[7] Schuckit, M. A. (1996). Alcohol, anxiety, and depressive disorders. Alcohol health and research world. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6876499/
[8][9] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.-a). Any anxiety disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder
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