If you’re struggling with an addiction or mental health issue, then seeking treatment is essential. With the proper treatment, you can begin to feel like yourself again. Mental health issues can significantly affect your life. You may have even wondered, “Is depression a disability?” It can be if it has a substantial impact on your everyday life.
If you have a substance use disorder, then therapy can benefit you as well. Therapy is often the best way to deal with the psychological side of addiction. Many people think that detoxing from a substance is all recovery is about. However, addiction is much more complex than this. Without addressing the mental health problems that may have contributed to your addiction, you have only dealt with half of the problem.
In this article, we’ll look at the different therapies on offer at Olympus Recovery and discuss their benefits.
Is Depression a Disability? If So, How Can It Be Treated?
Many people wonder, “Is depression a disability?” In a sense, it can be if it interferes with your everyday life. However, unlike most disabilities, depression can be treated with the right therapy, medication, or both.
This is also true with anxiety and other mental health problems that do not include psychosis. If you also suffer from addiction, recovering from a mental health problem can feel overwhelming. Therefore, it’s essential to surround yourself with a strong support network. A support network doesn’t have to mean family and friends. You can gain a strong support network of addiction professionals to help you through the challenges of recovery.
So, you know the answer to the question, “Is depression a disability?” If you’re looking for information regarding treatment options for depression, other mental health problems, or addiction, then keep reading.
Therapy Options Olympus Offers
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy — CBT
You may have heard of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, before. It’s a prevalent form of therapy often used in mental health and addiction treatment. It’s easy to understand why it is applied to these areas when you know its rationale.
CBT is all about reframing your thoughts. We need to do this from time to time to avoid being overcome by them. Most of us establish unconscious patterns in our thinking, which can cause us to behave in a certain way. If this behavior is harmful to our health, then it’s essential to change the thinking that led to it.
When it comes to addiction, many parts of it are influenced by thought processes. People with addictions can find it challenging to comprehend how their thoughts influence their substance use. However, after a CBT session or two, it can be easier to understand these thought processes and discuss ways to overcome them.
CBT is a type of talk therapy. This means that the patient will talk to the professional about the issues they are experiencing and discuss their addiction in detail. Usually, the therapist will devise various solutions and teach the patient coping skills and techniques.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy — DBT
Dialectical behavioral therapy, or DBT, is like CBT. This is because it technically is a form of CBT. However, it is often more intense and comprehensive. It consists of four different components. These are:
- Skills training
- Phone coaching
- Therapy (individual)
- Professional consultation group
The therapist combines these therapeutic practices with other methods, tracking behaviors and emotions, for example. Doing so helps patients understand their thoughts and emotions better. The aim is to identify how these thoughts and emotions can influence behaviors. This is particularly helpful in addiction therapy.
DBT may appear very similar to CBT, but there is one distinct difference. It is especially effective for treating people with personality disorders or who engage in self-destructive behaviors. A DBT program will typically start off slowly and increase in intensity.
Patients are asked to share about themselves and the difficulties that they are facing. After an initial “getting to know you” session, the patient will usually be asked to complete a diary outside sessions. The diary gives the therapist better insight into the thoughts and behaviors of the individual.
The goal behind DBT is to use the information provided by the patient to identify triggers and help establish healthier coping methods. It is usually recommended for high-risk patients or those with complex disorders. Patients who may benefit from this therapy include those with mood disorders, such as anxiety and bipolar disorder, PTSD, and borderline personality disorder. It can also be beneficial for treating eating disorders and psychotic issues, such as schizophrenia.
Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapy offers patients a different way to approach their treatment. This treatment option gives the patient more control over the intensity of their therapy. Patients are given the opportunity to open up to therapists in a non-traditional way. Unlike standard talk therapies, experiential therapy may involve things such as beach meditation, tai chi, and mindfulness. As with other types of therapy, experiential therapy is overseen by a team of licensed professionals. This is a good therapy option for people who may have difficulties opening up to a therapist in a more traditional setting.
EMDR
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EDMR) focuses on helping patients deal with traumatic memories. EMDR usually isn’t used unless a patient is also receiving other therapies, as it works best when combined with other treatments. It is useful for people who believe traumatic memories may be affecting their mental health and coping skills.
As a therapy, EMDR is still fairly new (the 1980s). However, there is a lot of evidence to prove its effectiveness. It is thought to help patients process traumatic memories. During this processing, it is believed it trains the brain to replace the negative feelings associated with them with positive ones.
Not all patients will be offered EMDR. A thorough assessment performed by a primary therapist usually determines if it is appropriate for the patient. Other methods are usually more beneficial for patients without a history of trauma. However, for people with PTSD, EDMR is particularly helpful.
The therapy is done in phases to help patients gently access their traumatic memories and process them. These phases include:
- An initial assessment where the therapist assesses the extent of the trauma the patient is experiencing
- Providing the patient with stress-relieving strategies
- The patient discussed their traumatic memories and the mental imagery associated with them, as well as any emotions and physical feelings they attach to the memory
- The therapist works with the patient to find a positive belief they can associate with the memory
- The patient is thinking of the memory while using EDMR processing techniques
Once these steps are completed, the therapist will ask the patient to revisit the memory and discuss the feelings associated with it. If the patient still experiences negative thoughts and feelings, the process is repeated until it is successful.
Discover More About How Olympus Can Help
CBT, DBT, experiential therapy, and EMDR are all effective therapy methods for a range of mental health issues. Therapists determine the best therapy to include in a treatment plan for each patient, depending on their needs.
If you are struggling with a substance use disorder or mental health issues, get in touch with us today to discuss treatment options.
