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Originally Posted by Sinking Feeling
I'm a bit confused to the topic so please forgive me if I'm not hitting it right on. I do know that mental illness and substance abuse often go hand in hand and like the chicken or the egg, is just as difficult figuring out which came first or what the underlying cause is. Often the symptoms are identical for both. As for outpatient care is where I am confused. Here in my area we do have outpatient programs for both mental illness and substance abuse. I've been to both and found substance abuse programs to be ineffective and boring for me. I have benefited greatly from outpatient MI. As for the stigma, I think it's worse for MI because it's more of a mystery and filled with false myths and also, MI tends to be for life. Sorry if I did not address this as intended.
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I agree that mental illness and substance abuse can go hand in hand. They can be very related. Maybe I am thinking more black and white. I think of an addiction in the sense that it is alcohol or street drugs. People seem to come out of the woodwork to help. If we are merely talking mental illness, yes there are inpatient and outpatient facilities (mainly hospitals for MI) but the problems that stem from mental illness (like med tweaking or withdrawal from a legal prescription) seem not to get the same attention or there are not any special places to go to and get treatment. I feel that there is much more stigma to have a MI than to have a substance abuse problem. Maybe it is just me but I only have my own experiences to go by.