Upon entering drug rehab I thought that I was only going to have to deal with my drug addiction, which was ruining my life.  What I didn’t know was that one of the main reasons that I was abusing drugs was due to the fact that I was clinically depressed.  When I would abuse cocaine it would suppress the symptoms of my depression.

Not only did drug addiction treatment help me with my addiction but just as importantly the certified addiction professionals taught me how to cope with my depression.  I would have never known that I was dually diagnosed with both depression and addiction if I didn’t go to addiction treatment.  I learned in treatment that my addiction and depression would feed off of one another.  The more drugs I would use the less depressed I felt and the more depressed I felt the more drugs I would use.

The certified addiction professionals and psychiatrist at addiction treatment taught me what I was going to have to do on a daily basis in order to remain abstinent from drugs.  In addition they were able to get my depression under control through both therapy and medications that are non-narcotic.  Since becoming sober I have come to learn that nearly forty percent of people who struggle with addiction are dually diagnosed whether they suffer from depression or some sort of bipolar disorder.

Would I have been able to get sober without my depression being diagnosed? Maybe.  Would I have the quality of sobriety that I have today if my depression was never diagnosed.  Definitely not.