Addiction and mental health disorders are family diseases because they impact your personal life and relationships, making structural family therapy programs an important part of recovery. Structural family therapy programs focus on utilizing evidence-based psychotherapy techniques to improve communication and insight. Mental health disorders affect 18.9% of American adults annually, while substance abuse and alcoholism impact another 19.7 million Americans ages 12 and older each year. While substance abuse problems are relatively common, only 1 out of every 8 people in need of treatment receives help. Mental health disorders create similar barriers, as only 42.6% of people struggling with a mental health problem received any type of treatment.

Addiction and Mental Health

Substance abuse and mental health disorders change your behavior, brain chemistry, and relationships. During addiction, drugs, and alcohol cause your pleasure and reward center to change, causing your brain to reward your drug and alcohol use and punish your abstinence. Whenever you use your substance of choice, your brain releases a rush of pleasurable neurotransmitters. However, once the effects end, you are suddenly left depleted of pleasurable neurotransmitters, which creates a serious imbalance. This imbalance causes intense cravings and mood changes. Mental health disorders are also related to brain chemistry, as conditions like depression are associated with depleted neurotransmitter levels. Like substance abuse disorders, mental health issues can impact your mood, personality, and behaviors. These things can make you more likely to engage in risky or dangerous behaviors. Both mental health and substance abuse disorders are chronic diseases, meaning they will continue to get worse until you receive treatment. The longer you wait to get help, the more serious your symptoms become. Mental health conditions can increase your risk of suicide, while addiction can lead to a fatal overdose.

What are Structural Family Therapy Programs?

Structural family therapy programs are a talking based therapeutic tactic that works to heal family relationships. The main goal of structural family therapy programs is to fix dysfunction by promoting growth. Structural family therapy programs are utilized to treat addiction and mental health disorders and can be used in combination with other treatments. Some of the benefits of structural family therapy programs include:

• Improves communication skills
• Improves problem-solving skills
• Rebuilds damaged familial relationships
• Restructures your family dynamic in a healthy way
• Creates sustainable and healthy family subsystems

Improving family relationships is a central part of recovering from mental health and substance abuse disorders. Learning how to unite as a family and effectively communicate is a central component of your recovery. During recovery, having support from loved ones is necessary which is why structural family therapy programs at an executive drug rehab center are extremely beneficial.

Reaching Out for Help Today

When you or a loved one is struggling with substance abuse or mental health disorder, you can feel frustrated, lost, and confused. Finding help is the first step in your recovery process. Structural family therapy programs are one of the best ways to improve recovery outcomes. Call us today at 1.713.528.3709 to learn more about your treatment options.