hey there everybody and welcome back to the addiction and co-occurring
Disorders Treatment manual today we're discussing unit 1 part 8 an
introduction to physical illness I'm your host Dr Donnelly Snipes
in this part we're going to explore how physical illnesses
may cause or be caused by mood or addiction issues
I've worked with people with mood and addiction issues for the better part of 25 years and I can
tell you that again the majority of them have some level of co-occurring physical disorder or
physical issue whether it's an autoimmune issue like Crohn's disease or rheumatoid arthritis or
lupus those issues autoimmune issues are often triggered and or worsened by stress and we know
that addiction depression anger anxiety guilt and grief all cause stress in the individual
so these dysphoric emotions and these unhealthy behaviors actually trigger
the autoimmune issue likewise the autoimmune issue the inflammation and the fatigue and all
the problems that go along with it and the pain May trigger anxiety depression guilt grief Etc
now not all pain is caused by autoimmune issues some people will struggle with osteoarthritis or
fibromyalgia neither one of which is a autoimmune issue but it causes pain nonetheless and it can
be ever present nonetheless and this chronic pain again can trigger addiction or mood issues
and be worsened by addiction or mood issues especially fibromyalgia
Sleep Disorders is another area that we don't pay near enough attention to even if
the person doesn't have depression or anxiety which in general if they have a sleep issue
they probably have depression anxiety or trauma in addition to the Sleep issue but even if they don't
Sleep Disorders make recovery a lot harder it makes it harder for your body to rebalance your
neurotransmitters and they've done research recently that that has found that people who
aren't getting adequate quality sleep actually have a much more difficult time suppressing
unwanted thoughts so those negative thoughts that you have those critical thoughts that
you have those flashbacks that you have are more difficult to control when you're sleep deprived
those Cravings that you have are a lot more difficult to control when you're sleep deprived so
it's important it's vital to the recovery process for people to be getting adequate quality sleep
probably more than any other physical intervention that we're going to talk
about in this book is getting that adequate quality sleep that can do so much for helping
you get over post-acute withdrawal syndrome if you're struggling with addiction or help
you rebalance your neurochemicals and focus more effectively if you're dealing with a mood issue
now apnea is just one sleep disorder some people have difficulty falling asleep some
have difficulty staying asleep and some people have sleep apnea and sleep apnea is
associated with an increased risk for dementia so if you don't have any other reason to get
that treated then you know reducing your risk of dementia and improving your recovery Outlook and
enhancing your recovery trajectory can be really strong motivators for addressing sleep disorders
and finally pause and I mentioned this a little bit already pause stands for Post Acute withdrawal
syndrome when people are in early recovery from addiction whether it's chemical or behavioral
their neurotransmitters are out of balance and I'm not going to go into all the nitty-gritty
of the neurochemistry of it all but suffice it to say that during the addiction the brain actually
altered the levels of certain neurotransmitters and actually changed its structure some changed
the wiring certain areas in the brain shrunk while other areas got bigger it can go back to something
that is much more functional much healthier it can rewire itself if you will but it takes time
and that during that time the time between when you quit using the addictive behavior and when you
feel like your normal quote-unquote energetic enthusiastic self can be a year 18 months
sometimes even up to two years depending on what you were using how intensely you were using it
so during that period we call that post-acute withdrawal syndrome and it gets better with time
but people have reduced energy they have periodic Cravings they may go through periods where they're
asymptomatic and then all of a sudden have a flare-up if you will of cravings and stink and
thinking and behaviors that they thought they were passed that they need to get through again
and that's the brain rewiring itself however it is a physical disorder it is representative
of alterations in the structure and functioning of the brain so it will require time to recover
when people have paws they often also periodically like I said they may not feel as energetic they
may feel depressed they may feel anxious they may have difficulty concentrating all of this is
the result of those brain changes and and again the body is fabulous it's amazing how it will
heal itself when it's allowed to do so
spend some time thinking about how each physical health issue you have could trigger addictive
behavior for example pause when people start having those Cravings or those unpleasant
emotions again it may be a huge relapse trigger for them so how could each one of these things
potentially trigger addictive behavior depression anxiety anger guilt grief or jealousy and although
it's not on this slide what are three healthy ways you can deal with any of your physical
health symptoms whatever symptoms you have what are three healthy ways you can deal with those
addictive behaviors are Creative Solutions to problems including mental health or physical
illness which unfortunately often cause more problems with mental and physical health
relationships finances employment and more mental and physical health issues can be caused by or
worsened by addictive behaviors recovery involves developing an awareness of what triggers your
mental or physical health problems or addiction addictive or unhelpful behaviors you use to cope
with distress and develop alternate skills to help you start dealing with life on life's terms
the activities in each part so far have encouraged you to look not at the overarching concept like
depression or anxiety but to really look at what are your symptoms of those particular issues
how do those particular issues potentially trigger other issues
and what are ways that have worked for you or that you're at least willing to
try in order to cope with those symptoms in order to move toward that recovery goal