Treatment of Alcohol Addiction and Drug Addiction in West Virginia from the Mental Health Point of View

June 7, 2008

West Virginia is one of the many states of America to deal with drug and alcohol abuse and addiction in the same manner as a mental health problem is treated. In fact, the common view of alcoholism and substance abuse in West Virginia is that these are problems originating in the mind even though they are manifested in the body. There are several premises that justify this concept.

The main reason why a person takes up an addiction is seated somewhere in the recesses of the person’s mind. Probably the person began abusing the substance as a release from a problem such as depression, or maybe the person was feeling neglected at home and that is why sought solace in the substance. This is a clear indication that substance abuse and alcoholism are situated in the mind and not in the body.

Then again, what sustains the addiction? A person keeps using the substance because it is his or her mind that causes the craving repeatedly. The body just does the mechanical work of consuming the substance, but the desire for it definitely arises in the mind.

For all these reasons, the addiction treatment program in West Virginia has begun looking upon drug and alcohol problems as mental health problems. The patients are not just detoxified, but they are also put for an extensive counseling program where such issues are handled. One of the clearest indications of this school of thought is the prevalence of the dual diagnosis program for alcoholism and substance abuse treatment in West Virginia which very clearly answers problems of the mind in addiction to those of the body.

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