When it comes to treating addiction, people have to worry about more than just the addiction itself. Addiction is often the result of an underlying mental disorder such as schizophrenia. In such situations, people have to seek schizophrenia treatment as well. Failure to get help for it usually results in relapse after rehab.
What Is Schizophrenia?
In the grand scheme of things, schizophrenia is a relatively rare but chronic brain disorder. People who suffer from it deal with symptoms such as:
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Lack of motivation
- Trouble concentrating
- Impaired thinking
- Anxiety
- Depression
Unfortunately, doctors have yet to find a cure for it. They believe that the answer lies in behavioral research and studying genetics. However, a schizophrenia treatment program can greatly improve people’s overall condition so that they can live with this disorder.
It’s also important to clear up some misconceptions about people who seek schizophrenia treatment. This disorder doesn’t cause multiple or split personalities. In fact, most people who have it aren’t dangerous. They tend to appear as normal and live normal lives.
Schizophrenia Treatment
People who have schizophrenia have many treatment options. Since there’s no cure for the disease, they have to continue treatment for their entire lives. A schizophrenia treatment program typically starts with the administration of prescription medications such as antipsychotics. These drugs affect specific transmitters in the brain to combat the symptoms that the disease causes.
However, schizophrenia treatment often takes more than just medication. Studies have found that people who undergo therapy in conjunction with medication are able to control the disorder better. Individual, family and group therapies are all effective in helping them deal with it.
A schizophrenia treatment program often provides social skills training as well. The goal is to help people improve how they communicate with others. These skills make it easier for them to live normal lives and complete day-to-day activities.
Addiction and Mental Disorders
It’s worth noting that people who suffer from mental disorders but don’t seek treatment often struggle with addiction. The reason is that they turn to drugs and alcohol to mask the symptoms of their disorders. Without a schizophrenia treatment program, however, they can never truly get control.
Also, studies show that those with addiction are more likely to develop mental disorders. The chemical changes that the drugs cause in the brain makes it susceptible to other problems. For these reasons, it makes sense why addiction and schizophrenia can co-occur.
The best rehab centers offer dual diagnosis treatment. These programs treat not only addiction but also underlying mental disorders. These rehab centers understand the importance of dealing with underlying issues to provide lasting recovery.
Zelus Recovery Can Help Young Adults Overcome Co-Occurring Disorders
At Zelus Recovery, we understand that providing treatment for co-occurring conditions is essential to ongoing sobriety. Programs like this allow us to offer schizophrenia treatment to those who also struggle with addiction. Of course, we provide treatment for many other co-occurring disorders too. The more underlying mental disorders that we can treat, the more young adults that we can help.
Our Boise addiction treatment programs focus on providing support for young adults and teens. Focusing on this specific age range makes it easier for us to tailor our programs to fit their needs. We also offer treatment for men and women. Some of the services that we have include:
- Intensive outpatient rehab
- Anxiety treatment program
- Gender-specific treatment
- Family therapy
- Outpatient rehab
- Individual and group therapies
Don’t let your underlying mental disorders go untreated. Get schizophrenia treatment and addiction help in the same place. Reach out to Zelus Recovery today at 208.518.0797 to get the help that you need.