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Silver Pines and Steps to Recovery have provided addiction recovery programs in Pennsylvania for over a decade with detox, residential, outpatient, and sober living services. Last year, we expanded our services to include robust mental health services, new locations, and specialized services for our nation’s veterans with more to come this year! We are visually recognizing our growth with a unified look that better reflects who we are today and the passion we have for helping everyone with their addiction and mental health recovery journeys.

Cross Addiction: Co-Occurring Addictions

Cross Addiction: Co-Occurring
Addictions

Home » Addiction Treatment Programs PA » Addiction Treatment Services » Cross Addiction: Co-
Occurring Addictions
Addiction is an extremely cunning disease, and a lot of the misconceptions about addiction keep people sick. Moreover, not understanding how the brain works and how addiction hijacks the brain can lead to a lot of suffering. When you go to an addiction treatment facility, you’ll learn about addiction and how to stay clean for good. One of the first aspects of addiction you need to understand is cross addiction and how it leads to relapse.
What is cross addiction?

What is Cross Addiction?

There are a wide range of substances that people abuse that can lead to a psychological and physical dependency. However, the problem is that some drugs are illicit and others aren’t, and the brain tries to justify and rationalize your using. You may think that you only have a problem with one substance and not another, which is a dangerous idea. Many people don’t realize that with how the brain’s neurons wire together, abusing multiple substances can be extremely dangerous.
For example, some of the most commonly abused substances include: Alcohol
For example, some of the most commonly abused substances include: Alcohol
  • Prescription opioids
  • Cocaine
  • Meth
  • Prescription amphetamines
  • Prescription benzodiazepines
Having co-occurring addictions means that you use one substance whenever you use another. One of the most common is mixing stimulants with depressants, and not realizing the correlation. For example, many people use cocaine, meth, or prescription amphetamines while drinking. Your brain may tell you that you have a problem with the stimulants, but you don’t have a problem with alcohol. However, with how the brain works, this can lead you back to relapse if you don’t abstain from alcohol as well.

Understanding the Brain and Cross Addiction

The brain is the most complex organ in the body, and it’s always trying to become more efficient. Specifically, it does this by taking various neurons and wiring them together based on certain behaviors. When you’re drinking and using other substances, the brain turns this into a singular action. Because of this, whenever you drink, you crave the other substance greatly. This is why so many people relapse when they think they only need to quit one of the substances.

The psychological dependency to substances is far more powerful than the physical dependency to substances. In order to truly recover, it’s important to receive addiction treatment and learn how to live in a new way. Furthermore, working with a therapist will help you get down to the sources of your addiction and understand why you turn to substances. As you begin to learn new coping skills, you’ll find you don’t need substances in order to manage your life.

Mental Illness and Cross Addiction

The best addiction treatment facilities offer dual diagnosis treatment, which means treating both mental illness and addiction. Many people turn to substances as a way of self-medicating anxiety, depression, and other disorders. Therefore, you’ll receive a proper diagnosis and begin to get some answers. You may have never realized that you have an underlying mental illness, so this can be extremely helpful for your recovery. It’s important to learn that you can manage your mental health without the use of substances.

Silver Pines Treatment Center is an addiction treatment program, and we’re here to provide you with hope. If you’re someone who has become a slave to your addiction, we want to show you that you can recover. Additionally, we’ll help you see that there’s an incredible life waiting for you, and all it takes is the willingness to recover. For example, some of the programs we offer to help with your cross addiction include:

To learn more about our programs, call us today at 267.719.8689. At Silver Pines, we’ll help you overcome cross addiction in your life.

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