If you are struggling with a mental illness or substance use disorder, you may feel like you have lost control. How can you get better if you don’t even fully understand what’s wrong? It’s important to note that you don’t have to have it all figured out to receive help for your mental illness or substance use disorder. You deserve help even though you may not understand the root causes of your illness or disorder. That’s something you figure out along the way to recovery. Continue reading to learn more about understanding your own mind.
An Inch From Madness
“You spend your life just an inch from madness,” says Jeffrey Kluger. Kluger is a writer for TIME Magazine’s Special Mental Health Edition. You know when you have a broken bone or a fever because you can feel the physical pain and you can test your temperature. Mental health is another thing, however. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where things started going downhill. When does joy become mania? Kluger questions.
Or sadness turn into depression, apprehension spiral into anxiety, or fear become a phobia? These things are a continuum, but where do we draw the line? Kluger relates this to the weather. The weather changes from day-to-day. One day is clear skies and sunny, while the next is full of thunderstorms. When, however, does a weather pattern turn into a climate? This question is essentially the same as where to draw the line. It’s more difficult than you may think.
We Are a Self-Aware Species
From Hippocrates to Aristotle, we have known that we are different from other species on this planet. They, however, did not do a great job of going much past that. Aristotle concluded that intelligence, emotions, and consciousness was found in the heart, says Kluger. Hippocrates, although he came before Aristotle, figured that these things were found deep inside our brain. Besides that, he had trouble. He theorized that temperaments were governed by fluids in the body. Of course, as hundreds of years have gone by, we’ve learned more and more about the brain and the things that stem from it. But, have we come as far as we think we have?
Things Have Changed
Over time, things have changed for the better. Many years ago, those with mental illnesses fell victim to the treatment method of trepanning, drilling holes in one’s skull. Exorcism was also a popular method of treatment. Later one, insane asylums were the rage where patients were involuntarily drugged and forced to have lobotomies. But then, things changed.
Patients, thanks to Sigmund Freud, were encouraged to talk about their feelings. This simple act of talking has further turned into Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Medications had also been introduced to help those struggling with mental health issues. Over time, we’ve also learned much more about the brain and how it can cause a mental illness or further a substance use disorder. This is a great feat.
There’s Still a Ways to Go
Although we have all these different treatment methods and research available to us, so many people struggle with mental illness and substance use disorder. About 450 million people across the globe struggle, says Kluger. In just the United States, 1 in 5 adults have a mental illness and the numbers are growing among children and teenagers. Although there’s still a ways to go, we are doing our best.
Across the world, says Kluger, more than 42.5 trillion is spent per year on mental health care. This money is now spent willingly, he says, when just a few hundred years ago people were shunned or even killed for speaking up about their struggles. Although all of this money is spent, mental illness and substance use has touched too many lives.
Everyone, whether they know it or not, is touched by mental illness and substance use. If you haven’t personally struggled, you surely know someone who has. It has been a long road to get to where we are, but we’re making progress. “Madness still stalks our species,” says Kluger, “but more increasingly, we are stalking it right back—and slowly driving it into retreat.”
How Has the Guest House Adapted? What Services Do You Offer?
The Guest House is a trauma and addiction treatment center in Ocala, Florida. We offer many types of therapy such as group therapy, individual therapy, somatic therapy, equine therapy, adventure therapy, and cinema therapy. We also offer detox programs, therapeutic modalities, breath work, meditation, yoga, healing through art, and more. All of these treatments are aimed to help treat trauma and its underlying causes.
We know how to treat the symptoms of trauma, as well as tackle self-defeating habits and behaviors. We also offer dual diagnosis programs such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. The addictions we treat are alcohol addiction, cocaine and crack addiction, heroin addiction, meth addiction, opiate and opioid addiction, and hallucinogen addiction. We have a program that can work for you.
The Guest House is here to help you if you are struggling with substance use that stems from a significant trauma. We are ready and able to help you get your life back. You just have to take the leap of faith to contact us today. Call us now at 855-483-7800. You won’t be disappointed by the levels of care we offer. Call us today. You deserve help.