Do Inpatient Alcohol Treatment Programs Treat Depression Too?

More often than not, people struggling with chronic alcoholism experience bouts of depression on a regular basis. Over time, chronic alcohol abuse not only breeds addiction, but also creates the types of conditions where full-blown depression disorders can easily take root.

Under these conditions, overcoming alcohol addiction requires the level of care provided through inpatient alcohol treatment programs. These programs specialize in treating the most severe forms of alcoholism where co-occurring depression disorders are more so the norm than the exception.

Alcoholism & Depression

Alcohol addiction and depression tend to go hand-in-hand, with one condition aggravating the effects of the other. According to the Journal of Current Psychiatric Reports, the risk of developing a depression disorder doubles for people struggling with alcoholism.

Likewise, people living with depression disorder are twice as likely to develop an alcohol or drug addiction. Over time, the combined effects of alcoholism and depression also increase the risk of engaging in suicide-type behaviors.

If you’re considering getting help for an alcohol problem, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-430-1407Who Answers? to ask about available treatment options.

Inpatient Alcohol Treatment for Depression

Integrated Treatment Approach

Those with depression are twice as likely to develop a substance use disorder.

Since the presence of a co-occurring depression disorder greatly affects a person’s drinking behavior, inpatient alcohol treatment programs use an integrated treatment approach when dealing with depression-related cases. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, an integrated treatment approach addresses depression and alcoholism as a single disorder. In this way, treatment providers can better manage the combined effects of the two conditions as well as the effects each condition has on the other.

Medication Therapies

Chronic alcohol addiction essentially “rewires” the brain’s neural network in such a way that alcohol becomes a required substance for normal brain functioning. Under these conditions, some form of medical treatment must be administered to support and stabilize damaged brain processes.

Inpatient alcohol treatment programs provide medication therapies, such as disulfiram and Acamprosate, which are specifically designed to address the damaging effects of chronic alcoholism. Medications may also be administered to treat depression symptoms depending on how a person responds to alcohol-based therapies.

Psychosocial Treatment

Psychosocial treatment interventions play a central role in helping recovering alcoholics replace compulsive drinking behaviors with a healthy lifestyle. These types of treatment interventions can also help a person deal with the underlying issues that drive a depression disorder.

Inpatient alcohol treatment programs offer a range of psychosocial treatment interventions, including:

• Motivation-based therapies
• Group therapy
• Relapse prevention training
• Drug education and counseling
• Individual psychotherapy
• Relationship counseling
• Twelve-step groups

What Do the Best Inpatient Rehab Centers Offer that the Other Programs Don’t?

Considerations

Trying to overcome an alcohol addiction problem is all but impossible when a depression disorder is at work. For people battling chronic or long-term alcoholism, the effects of depression only work to increase the severity of a drinking problem.

Inpatient alcohol treatment programs have ample experience in addressing the types of challenges depression brings, while helping a person develop the types of coping skills that make a sober lifestyle possible. If you have more questions about inpatient alcohol treatment, or need help determining whether your health insurance will cover treatment costs, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-430-1407Who Answers?.