Addiction treatment centers like Evolve Indy are known for helping addicts beat their addictions. However, this isn’t the only treatment service they offer. A lot of rehab facilities also provide treatment for personality disorders.
A personality disorder or PD is a mental health condition that normally affects how a person perceives and responds to the world around them. As the name suggests, a personality disorder changes an individual’s personality and is often characterized by a pattern of unhealthy or unusual behaviors and thoughts. If you have a loved one with a personality disorder, they may become strangers to you because they begin to behave and even think differently. They are no longer the person you knew and this can be distressing both to the individual and their friends and families.
Personality Disorders and Addiction
A personality disorder significantly impairs how an individual functions. Your loved one may seem to have completely changed in a short amount of time, with seemingly no external causes. To make matters worse, those affected by personality disorders often don’t know that they have a problem. They think that things are normal and try to go on with their lives as usual.
Unfortunately, the disorder makes it difficult for them to cope with life, and stress or even form stable relationships with others. Being a mental health condition, a personality disorder has the potential to affect every aspect of an individual’s life.
As things begin to go south, the person might turn to alcohol or drugs in a bid to escape their negative thoughts, hide their inadequacies, or feel better about themselves. This often leads to a negative cycle where the person’s behavior becomes more erratic the more drugs and alcohol they take, until they eventually become addicted.
Getting Help at a Treatment Center
Thanks to continuous research, we now know how personality disorders and addiction are connected. When seeking treatment at a rehab facility such as Evolve Indy in Indiana, you’ll normally be taken through a pre-admission assessment. This helps our addiction treatment experts to analyze your addiction and find out if you have a co-occurring disorder e.g. a personality disorder. This will form the basis of your treatment and recovery goals.
If you do have a dual diagnosis, we’ll assign you to a personality disorder counselor who will work with you alongside the addiction treatment counselors. Both addiction and personality disorders have to be addressed simultaneously to avoid relapse and to improve your chances of overcoming the addiction.
Depending on the severity of both, you might be enrolled in our partial hospitalization program or the intensive outpatient program. If you have a busy schedule, then the outpatient program might work for you. Your family will also probably participate in the family therapy program so that they know how to help you in your recovery journey.
If you suspect that your loved one is struggling with both an addiction and a personality disorder, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Evolve Indy. We are always ready to help.