During treatment for addiction or mental health disorders, mindfulness based cognitive therapy can greatly improve your recovery odds. But, what is mindfulness based cognitive therapy program?

More than 15% of American adults either struggle with a mental health disorder or a substance abuse disorder. Addiction, substance abuse, and mental health conditions are all considered mental health disorders that impact or change your brain chemistry. Even though mental health conditions are not medical conditions, they can cause pervasive and serious physical symptoms.  Some symptoms become so severe that those who endure them must seek treatment at a drug addiction treatment center in California.

For example, even though substance abuse disorders are mental health conditions, you can deal with overwhelming withdrawal symptoms if you stop using drugs and alcohol. These symptoms can cause physical pain, seizures, and nausea. Mental health disorders likewise can cause physical symptoms such as anxiety attacks. This is one of the reasons why some may choose to partake in a behavioral therapy program on their road to recovery.

What are Mental Health Disorders?

Mental health disorders are chronic conditions that impact your brain chemistry, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Some of the most common mental health disorders include:

  • Anxiety related disorders, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  • Addiction
  • Eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa
  • Mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder
  • Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia
  • Trauma related disorders, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Mental health disorders are difficult to recover from without treatment because symptoms may become disabling. Mental health disorders are progressive in nature, meaning that they continue to get worse until they are properly treated. This makes receiving treatment as soon as you begin noticing symptoms extremely important. Left untreated, mental health symptoms can significantly worsen and prevent you from working or going to school.

These people are using mindfulness based cognitive therapy.

Many mental health disorders are also exacerbated by stress. Symptoms typically worsen following major life changes, such as a new job, a death of a loved one, or attending college. Using or abusing drugs and alcohol can diminish your mental health and cause mood disorders. If you have a mental health disorder, abusing drugs and alcohol will make your symptoms more intense because drugs and alcohol create changes to your brain chemistry.  You will need to seek specialized treatment via a substance use disorder treatment program.

Medications and therapy are two types of evidence-based treatments.  Such treatments are highly effective in treating mental health and substance abuse disorders. Holistic treatments focus on helping you learn to cope with stress and improve your physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. Evidence-based and holistic treatments can be utilized together during treatment, which can drastically improve your ability to recover.

What is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy?

Mindfulness based cognitive therapy is a type of evidence-based talk therapy. It improves your self awareness and ability to control and manage your symptoms. A mindfulness based cognitive therapy program combines mindfulness practices with cognitive behavioral therapy. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy helps you identify symptoms and negative thoughts and feelings and learn how to accept them. Accepting emotions and thoughts and understanding them can improve your ability to manage your symptoms.

When you struggle with mental health symptoms, stress can cause you to automatically return to negative or harmful thinking patterns or behaviors. For example, you can begin to have self-defeating thoughts or resort to self medicating with drugs and alcohol when you have symptoms. Your patterns or behaviors may become so severe that you must be admitted into an intensive outpatient program in Orange County, CA.

Mindfulness based cognitive therapy aims to empower you and to help you change your old, negative reactions and coping mechanisms to more positive ones.

Finding Treatment Today

Battling symptoms from a mental health disorder can become frustrating and difficult without help such as a PTSD treatment program or other mental health treatment program. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy and other evidence-based and holistic treatments can provide you with the tools and skills necessary to regain control of your life and find recovery. Pillars Recovery, which offers a nationally recognized behavioral therapy program, is here to help. Call us today at 866.782.0247 to learn more about your treatment options.