The Connection Between Anxiety and Addiction

Millions of people across the United States struggle with mental disorders. Two common illnesses that occur together are anxiety and addiction. Knowing more about the connection helps people understand why treating both is essential to recovery.

Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety has several levels of severity from generalized anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder. All types of anxiety share the symptom of fear. However, people don’t always have anxiety disorders when they feel afraid.

It’s normal to feel scared or anxious in uncertain situations. For instance, some people become anxious before a competition, test, or speaking in front of others. In the majority of cases, these emotions are temporary.

Anxiety becomes a disorder when the feelings don’t dissipate. Instead, they grow worse with time and interfere with daily activities. The symptoms can even develop for no apparent reason, making some avoid people, events or places. Also, the emotions could remain even when the trigger goes away.

Understanding Addiction

Drug and alcohol use often comes to people’s minds when they think of addiction. However, it’s not the only behavior to which people can develop the disease. Gambling, shopping, and sex are a few other examples of activities that can be addictive. The reason is that the brain releases dopamine, a natural chemical that makes people feel pleasure when engaging in these activities.

Addiction is a mental disease that develops over time. With drugs, it progresses from tolerance to dependence to addiction. The illness strips people of their ability to choose whether or not to use drugs. It becomes a compulsive behavior that they no longer can control.

The Link Between Anxiety and Addiction

Aside from commonly occurring together, one of the factors that lead to anxiety and addiction is genetics. However, the primary connection is that either disorder can cause the other.

People who have anxiety, for example, might feel like only alcohol or drugs can make them feel better. They start drinking, taking anti-anxiety medicines or both. This self-medication affects receptors in the brain that require continued drug use to achieve calm. Mixing drugs, alcohol, and anxiety for a prolonged period eventually causes addiction.

When drug addiction is present first, the chemical changes that it causes in the brain can trigger anxiety. Those who develop both disorders could feel anxious about getting and taking drugs. In fact, it’s a symptom that often manifests during detox as the body relearns how to function without drugs.

Having anxiety or addiction doesn’t mean that people will develop the other disorder. However, research indicates that a sizable number of people have both.

Treatment for Anxiety Disorders and Addiction

If you suffer from anxiety and addiction, you need dual diagnosis treatment to recover. When you only treat one, the other is highly likely to trigger a relapse. Beaches Recovery offers this service with an approach that addresses your mind, body, and spirit. Also, we offer many other addiction programs, including:

• Residential drug rehab
• Intensive outpatient program
• Partial hospitalization program
• Sober living
• Student addiction treatment

Don’t let anxiety and addiction to drugs or alcohol dictate what happens in your life. Overcome these mental health disorders so that you can enjoy life again. Call Beaches Recovery now at 866.605.0532 to start treatment.