Depression and Drug Abuse

At the Atlantic Recovery Center in Florida, our clients often have co-occurring issues with depression and drug abuse. Our dual diagnosis treatment program offers holistic and traditional approaches to help you overcome both disorders. Additionally, combined with our other treatment options, this gives you the best opportunity to cope with the underlying cause of your addiction in a healthy way and get back to living a healthy life without substances.

Depression and Drug Abuse

While everyone can have problems at home or work, those who suffer from depression have emotional lows that don’t easily go away. Clinical depression is a mental disorder with serious consequences for you and those who love you. Unfortunately, there’s also a correlation between depression and drug abuse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 6 American adults faces serious depression in their lifetime. Additionally, 16 million Americans face depression each year.

Often, those with depression face other mental disorders, such as anxiety. People with anxiety disorder experience intense fear, worry, or panic. These feelings affect their daily lives. Unfortunately, depression and drug abuse often make things worse. People with mental health disorders tend to self-medicate their issues with illicit drugs and alcohol.

At Atlantic Recovery Center, our depression treatment center and anxiety treatment center teach you healthy ways to work through your feelings without turning to substance abuse so you can live a healthier life.

Drugs Can Make Depression Worse

If you suffer from depression, certain drugs can make it worse. For instance, alcohol triggers depressive symptoms, including sadness, lethargy, and hopelessness. Those with depression may reach for the bottle to numb their pain. However, depression and drug abuse feed off one another, making you feel worse.

Clinical depression carries a high risk of self-harm, chronic illness, and suicidal thoughts. Adding drugs or alcohol to the equation greatly increases your health risks. Alternately, enrolling in a substance abuse treatment program gives you the confidence and skills needed to build a more satisfying life so you do not have to suffer from the consequences of addiction.

How Can You Tell if You Have Depression?

There is a vast difference between feeling sad about a breakup or the death of a loved one and having clinical depression. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, clinical depression lasts longer than 14 days and affects your ability to work, have meaningful relationships, and function in society.

If you experience at least five of the symptoms below, you may have clinical depression and should seek treatment from a mental health treatment center:

  • Feelings of hopelessness
  • Anxiety
  • Loss of appetite or weight gain
  • Change in sleeping pattern
  • Tearfulness
  • Loss of energy
  • Aches and pains
  • Feeling guilty all the time
  • Feeling worthless
  • Irritability
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • A loss of interest in favorite hobbies
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Suicide attempts

The link between depression and drug abuse can deepen feelings of sadness and hopelessness. Our dialectical behavior therapy program can help you learn to accept your feelings as you try to work through the root cause of your condition. You learn to stay in the moment and think through various scenarios to avoid overreacting when things do not go as you planned.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Program in Florida

At Atlantic Recovery Center in Florida, we tailor our drug addiction treatment program to each client’s individual needs. Call us at 877.432.0867 today to find out more about our experienced staff and evidence-based therapy programs that can help you take back control of your future from depression and drug abuse. We want to help you overcome both depression and substance abuse with treatment and get you back on track.


Atlantic Recovery Center Florida Rehab Center FL Addiction Treatment center Atlantic Recovery Center’s mission, through drug treatment programs, is to provide our clients with insight and awareness into the root causes and life chain of events that led to their destructive use of substances. And to provide the critical skills and tools necessary to cultivate a sober identity built on integrity, dignity and self-respect. Learn More