11/14/2025
Many people start using substances to cope with anxiety, depression, or trauma—and it works, at first.
But over time, substances change your brain chemistry, making mental health symptoms worse. What started as self-medication becomes a vicious cycle:
you use to feel better, but using makes you feel worse, so you use more.
Breaking this cycle requires treating both the addiction and the mental health condition together. That's why dual diagnosis treatment is so critical.
(dual diagnosis treatment importance, substance abuse and mental health, how addiction worsens depression, anxiety and substance use disorder, breaking the addiction mental health cycle, treating co occurring disorders)