The relationship between emotional immaturity and substance abuse is often complicated. Emotionally immature people are unable to regulate their feelings in a healthy way, and this issue, which can be due to low self-esteem, childhood abuse, or poor impulse control, can eventually lead to a substance use disorder (SUD).
Emotional Immaturity and Substance Abuse
Emotional immaturity points to issues in a person’s childhood development. Between the ages of three and five years, children start to learn how to regulate their intense emotions and outbursts. They also learn about impulse control. When these areas of their emotional development are not addressed, emotional immaturity can be the result.
The relationship between emotional health and addiction is often dangerously intertwined. Although not all cases of emotional immaturity lead to substance abuse, it’s certainly possible.
Unresolved Trauma
When trauma in your life stops your emotional development, you may be in a state of “arrested psychological development,” and you may not outgrow some childlike methods of showing your emotions.
One of the ways some people choose to cope with unresolved trauma is by abusing alcohol or drugs. Self-medication can help you deal with any emotional pain or leftover anxiety that is related to your past trauma.
You may also find yourself coping with vivid memories and flashbacks by overindulging in alcohol or drugs. Individuals suffering from unresolved trauma may need to regulate their emotions as well to avoid crashing into intense depressive estates. Drugs and alcohol can help with this.
Unresolved trauma can also lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individuals may develop a substance use disorder in an attempt to cope with PTSD symptoms.
Poor Coping Skills
Emotionally immature individuals tend to have poor coping skills when it comes to handling stress or navigating challenges. Turning to alcohol and drugs can be an effective way for them to escape from the stress and pressure in their lives. Alcohol and drugs can also help them control sudden outbursts (violently lashing out at loved ones) or tendencies to overeat. Poor coping skills typically lead to a lack of problem-solving skills, especially under pressure. This feeling of inadequacy may cause them to turn to drugs or alcohol.
Lack of Emotional Regulation
When people have problems regulating their emotions, they may turn to drugs or alcohol to help. Self-medication can make it easier to deal with overwhelming emotions, such as pain, stress, anger, or anxiety. Since the highs that come with drugs or alcohol are often short, returning to a substance as a solution can turn into dependency.
Emotionally immature individuals who lack emotional regulation may also need a drug to improve their moods or avoid feeling empty.
How Substance Abuse Impacts Mental Health
Substance abuse not only impacts mental health, but it can worsen the symptoms of emotional immaturity.
Emotionally immature people are unable to regulate their emotions, and substance abuse can worsen the situation. Abusing alcohol or drugs can result in heightened sensitivity, mood swings, and intense bouts of depression.
Substance abuse can also increase anxiety. Emotionally immature people may already have anxiety due to their poor coping skills, and abusing alcohol or drugs can further contribute to their anxiety.
Some people are aware that they are emotionally immature and may try to develop healthier methods of coping. However, substance abuse can interfere with their learning journey, warping their mindset or ability to understand their emotions.
Substance abuse can create strained relationships, too, significantly impacting mental health. It can also result in feelings of emotional inadequacy or low self-worth.
People with emotional immaturity issues struggle with problem-solving skills and managing stress. When they abuse drugs or alcohol, they impair their cognitive functioning, making it even more difficult to manage their stress or cope with challenging situations.
Finally, addiction alters the brain’s chemistry, creating a cycle of dependency. Alcohol or drug abuse over many years can eventually cause psychosis.
Granite Recovery Centers’ Holistic Approach
At Granite Recovery Centers, we offer a holistic approach to those suffering from both substance abuse and emotional immaturity. Some of the therapeutic interventions for substance abuse include:
Inpatient Addiction Treatment
Granite Recovery Centers offers three inpatient addiction treatment centers. Inpatient addiction rehab provides clients with 24/7 supervised care by healthcare professionals. Our treatment plan addresses both the physical and psychological dependence.
Our inpatient addiction treatment programs run from 30 to 90 days, depending on the severity of the addiction. During this time, clients receive individual counseling and group psychotherapy sessions. Their daily routines include physical exercise, chores, and study.
Inpatient Mental Health Treatment Program
Like the inpatient addiction treatment program, our inpatient mental health treatment program offers 24/7 supervised treatment under the supervision of healthcare professionals. We treat schizoaffective disorder, social anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and more.
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
Our partial hospitalization program can benefit clients transitioning out of inpatient rehab or those who need an intense clinical rehab experience — programs five days a week — while living at home. Our PHP program offers group therapy, medication management, individual therapy, and family therapy.
Intensive Outpatient Program
If your substance use disorder isn’t severe, you may not need 24/7 supervision. In this case, Granite Recovery Centers offer an intensive outpatient program (IOP) that lasts anywhere from 12 to 16 weeks. The IOP program allows you to stay at home while attending intense three-hour meetings three times a week. Once you complete the program, you can step down to the regular outpatient programs. The program offers individual therapy, group therapy, and whatever additional treatment your customized treatment plan demands.
Outpatient Program
We offer outpatient programs to clients who have just completed intensive outpatient programs or residential treatment programs. Our outpatient programs are the final step of treatment before clients return to the normal world. The main goal of the outpatient program is to provide clients with a support system. They have access to the same counselors they were seeing during their inpatient program, but they have more independence.
Therapeutic Interventions
At Granite Recovery Centers, we offer comprehensive addiction treatment in the form of therapeutic modalities and counseling approaches. Approaches that can address emotional immaturity and addiction include:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical behavior therapy is a skill-building psychotherapy that was developed by psychologist Dr. Marsha M. Linehan. It was originally used to treat people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, the therapy was found to help those with substance use disorders as well.
DBT focuses on helping people control their emotions and reactions to stress. There are four main components to DBT. These are:
- Mindfulness: Mindfulness teaches clients to live in the present moment instead of feeling anxious about the future or depressed about the past.
- Emotion Regulation: Clients learn how to regulate their intense emotions, so those emotions aren’t overwhelming. There are three goals: understanding emotions, reducing emotional vulnerability, and decreasing emotional suffering.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: Clients learn how to communicate in their relationships, such as asking for things, setting boundaries, or simply saying no.
- Distress Tolerance: Clients are taught how to cope with distressing situations and accept those events without making harmful and self-destructive decisions.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the relationship between our emotions and our actions, in which negative thought patterns can create self-destructive behavior responses. The goal of CBT is to change negative thought patterns into positive thought patterns instead. Some principles of CBT include:
- Identifying negative thoughts: Clients identify negative thoughts and modify unhelpful ones, thereby changing how they react emotionally to triggers.
- Problem-Solving: Clients learn how to identify a problem, generate solutions, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each solution, and generate the most effective solution.
- Behavioral changes: CBT teaches clients to change self-destructive patterns of behavior and implement new behaviors that provide feelings of accomplishment.
Yoga Therapy
Yoga can be used therapeutically to allow clients to connect their minds, bodies, and spirits in order to heal emotionally and mentally. The components of yoga therapy include:
- Postures: By emphasizing physical postures and different movements, yoga can help individuals focus on their bodies, improving their balance and flexibility. This intense focus on slow movements and holding postures can help clients manage stress and anxiety.
- Breath Control: Controlling your breathing is an important part of yoga. Learning how to breathe properly can reduce stress, tension, and anxiety.
- Meditation and Mindfulness: Yoga movements teach clients to be fully present in the moment. When their mind wanders, yoga therapy emphasizes the skill of bringing the mind back to focus on the moment.
- Relaxation: Yoga therapy teaches clients to embrace relaxation techniques that can promote mental and emotional healing.
Recreational Therapy
Recreational therapy uses activities to improve clients’ emotional, physical, and social well-being. These activities may vary; they can include arts and crafts, dance, music, sports, and more. Recreational therapy offers clients numerous benefits, such as improving their depression, boosting their self-esteem, and increasing their cognitive abilities.
Recreational therapists customize a treatment plan based on the needs of the individual. The activities can also be modified as clients make progress. In addition, therapists can evaluate how clients respond to the therapy, thus tracking their progress.
Individualized Care
Granite Recovery Centers offers tailored treatment plans for emotional immaturity and substance use disorders. Individuals suffering from both emotional immaturity and a substance use disorder fall under the category of dual diagnosis.
- Assessment: This diagnosis requires a comprehensive assessment first to identify the substance use disorder as well as the reasons for the emotional immaturity. Included in the assessment is identifying any unique challenges that the client is faced with.
- Integrated Treatment Plans: To address an emotional immaturity disorder alongside a substance use disorder, Granite Recovery Centers offer integrated treatment plans. These plans offer counseling to address the emotional immaturity disorder as well as the addiction disorder simultaneously. Integrated treatment plans are important because they take into account how the two disorders affect each other.
- Psychotherapy: Individualized care also involves using therapeutic modalities, such as dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, recreational therapy, and more. This may be combined with medication-assisted treatment (MAT) if the client needs it. During individualized care, clients learn about the relationship their substance abuse has on their emotional health and vice versa. By gaining this knowledge, clients can then take steps to make realistic changes.
- Support Groups: Support groups are also instrumental to the comprehensive treatment plans offered in individualized care. While individual counseling is important, clients often need peer support. This supportive community allows clients to share their experiences with others who have similar experiences.
- Relapse Prevention: Clients with a co-occurring disorder learn to build skills that can prevent relapses. These skill-building sessions teach clients to identify and manage stressors or emotional triggers.
- Family Involvement: At Granite Recovery Centers, we like to involve family members in therapy sessions if the client and family are willing. This approach can help address any family issues that contribute to the client’s disorders. Family therapy sessions can also provide a supportive environment for clients feeling isolated and depressed.
Success Stories
Granite Recovery Centers’ expertise in addiction treatment simply means we know what works after years of experience. We combine the best parts of evidence-based clinical psychotherapy with 12-step study and action. Here is what some of our clients have to say:
“An amazing experience that saved my life and helped me get my children and family back in my life. I’m an addict and alcoholic of the worst type.”
“A majority of the staff here are also in recovery, which makes an incredible difference knowing that the people teaching me have been exactly where I was.”
“I’m coming up on two years clean now, and I still wear my Granite State Recovery T-shirt all the time. I would strongly suggest this place to ANYONE. They really go above and beyond if you’re actually willing to turn your life around.”
“Best. Treatment. Facility. Around. I stayed at NFA Canterbury for three months and loved every single second. The staff here are beyond amazing. I was so engaged in all groups. My therapist and case manager were nothing short of incredible. NFA holds a very special place in my heart & will forever. I recommend it to absolutely anyone looking for substance use/mental health treatment.”
“This program helped save my life in 2014 and ever since then, I have had the honor of working for this organization. Amazing things are happening here! I’m thankful that Granite was where I wound up when I was seeking treatment. I don’t think I would have been successful in other programs, knowing what I know now about the field.”
