From the desk of one of our Group Facilitators, Heidi Platt:

When I was working towards my certification to become an addiction counselor, I had a professor who told us, “Make no mistake about it. If you are going into addiction counseling, you are going into co-occurring disorders.” This stuck with me. As I proceeded toward my master’s degree in Addiction Studies, this view became crystal clear.

I became interested in the prevalence of eating disorders among women who also have a substance use disorder diagnosis. What I found in the peer-reviewed articles was that 50% of persons who have a substance use disorder diagnosis also have an eating disorder diagnosis, and this was not specific to women. I try to keep this in mind when I am treating persons with mental health issues, I take into account that a substance may be having an impact on that person’s mental health.

In my case, when I stopped eating, I would end up relapsing in my addiction, and vice versa, when I would relapse on substances I would stop eating. The two were so intermingled that it was not until I had over a year sober that I could see it. Not eating was my first experience with changing the way I felt, and my substance use supported this behavior. To this day I am careful to:

1) Feed myself

2) Not give myself any “little permissions” to use substances. In the past, I was not as hypervigilant, and things did not go well.

Another shift that has come with time is the realization that it takes time to heal from both substance use disorder as well as any other mental health diagnosis. Besides eating disorders, I have been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I am medicated for my depression and getting the proper medication and the proper dose. I tell my clients that getting well with medication assistance is “like throwing spaghetti at the wall. Some meds stick and others don’t.” It takes patience to recover, not just with the process but also with myself. As far as my anxiety goes, I do not take medication. I was heavily addicted to Benzodiazepines (drugs like Xanax and Ativan) and I am not willing to test my recovery that way. I have found that daily meditation and mindfulness make my anxiety manageable. Yoga gives me a way to move where I feel good in my body, even when I am falling over in balance poses. Herren Project runners inspire me, and I am running, but not the miles that some of you rack up!

I was told early on in my recovery that the opposite of addiction is connection. This has certainly proven true in my case. During the pandemic, I relied on the daily all pathways recovery meetings that Herren Project offered. I became connected to the group members and I count you all as members of my tribe. The other resource I count on is The Phoenix online sober active community. I am able to practice yoga there and I can access recovery meetings and guided meditation. It is all free. The only requirement is 48 hours of continuous recovery. All of these people are family as well. What huge gifts.

So I ask you–how do you take care of your recovery from Substance Use Disorder and or another mental health diagnosis?