Depression & Addiction Treatment at Banyan

How Depression and Addiction Are Diagnosed

Depression and addiction are usually diagnosed by licensed mental health professionals and doctors who are educated in mental health and substance use disorders. Evaluations include questions about a person's mood, mood symptoms, their substance use, their physical health, their sleep, their trauma history, medications they're taking, past treatment, and how they've been coping in their daily life. Evaluators pay attention to timing, too. 

They want to know whether a person had depressive symptoms prior to substance use, if depressive symptoms were worse during periods of active substance use, and whether a person experiences depressive symptoms during withdrawal or while in recovery from addiction. That distinction is important because symptoms can often overlap, and substance use can look like depression or make it worse, while depression can also increase the urge to keep using. A precise diagnosis gives clinicians more tools to create a safer treatment plan.

Treatment for Depression and Addiction

Because one can maintain the other, treating depression and addiction at the same time tends to work best. When both get addressed in integrated care, patients may get a better sense of how mood symptoms, unhealthy coping habits, cravings, and relapse risk are connected.

Therapy and support during treatment may include:

• Individual therapy for examining emotional pain, maladaptive thinking, and triggers for using
• Cognitive behavioral therapy to challenge hopelessness and other negative, self-defeating patterns
• Group therapy for peer support and accountability
• Relapse prevention planning for common triggers around isolation, stress, and mood-related symptoms
• Mental health care and medication management, as appropriate
• Psychoeducation on the link between depression and addiction
• Skill-building around structuring your day, mood regulation, healthy sleep patterns, and self-care
• Family therapy and family support if relationships have suffered due to depression and/or drug use

The good stuff doesn’t just help a person stay clean; it also helps get their emotional state under control, improves day-to-day functioning, and helps them deal with pain more healthfully.

Banyan’s Approach to Treating Depression and Addiction

At Banyan Treatment Centers, we start by assessing both a patient’s level of substance use and their depression. We look at the whole patient: any immediate safety concerns; mental health history; past treatment experience and outcomes; any relevant medical history or health care needs; and the nature of how their depression and drug use are impacting them right now. From there, we design an individualized care plan to assist both with getting sober and staying sober.

We combine clinical care with whole-person support. Based on each patient’s unique needs, that can involve therapy, mental health services, coping skills training, relapse prevention services, and care coordination across all levels of treatment. Our goal is to offer structure and support that will make recovery feel possible again.

Levels of Care for Depression and Addiction Treatment

Each person has a unique situation and will require a different level of care. Severity of depression, severity and quantity of drug use, medical stability, safety concerns, and supports at home can all come into play. Some people will need more structure in the beginning, and others may do fine in a step-down program.

Residential treatment is live-in treatment with consistent clinical support that may be appropriate for adults whose depression and addiction have severely impacted their ability to live their daily lives, and/or who might need help with keeping themselves safe. Partial hospitalization is intensive, daytime treatment that allows patients to return home or to a sober living at night. This might be appropriate for someone who needs significant support without overnight residential care.

Virtual IOP through Telehealth may offer access to structured, remote clinical support for some adults who want to stay in their local environment. Placement should always be a clinical decision based on the most clinically appropriate placement and the safest path to treatment.

What to Expect During Depression and Addiction Treatment

Typically, a patient will first meet with the clinical team for an initial assessment and a discussion of treatment needs. Treatment plans will then be developed and revised as treatment progresses, in line with the patient's response to clinical care. Treatment might include a variety of components, including individual counseling, group sessions, mental health sessions, and coping-skills work on thoughts and behaviors associated with both depression and substance use disorders, on both an individual and group basis. Patients learn how to manage emotional triggers, resist urges and cravings to use substances and drugs, adopt healthier routines, and learn how to manage intense emotions without resorting to self-medication via drugs and alcohol.