Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in the U.S., and the entire world. And it’s little wonder with the realities of life we are exposed to daily: traumatic events, stress, poverty, the pandemic, loneliness, death/loss. At one time, depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges were looked upon as shameful, embarrassing or something to hide. Today, they are practically endemic. But that doesn’t mean they’re easy to live with, or that you should have to live with them. Here at Alpine Recovery Lodge, we have the skills and the staff to help you take steps to overcome your depression and lead a satisfying, fulfilling life.
Our clients who suffer from depression are also often battling co-occurring substance use disorders. In fact, many substance use disorders lead back to an underlying mental health condition. That’s why at Alpine Recovery Lodge, our medical doctor, nurses and therapists are always on the lookout for dual diagnosis situations. These occur when a patient is suffering from a mental illness such as depression while also battling one or more addictions to drugs and/or alcohol. When this is the case, the first step on the road to recovery is detox.
Detox when a mental health condition is present may look different from detox in the absence of a mental health condition. At its core, detox is stopping all substance use cold turkey — no alcohol or drugs. Depending on the substance to which you may be addicted, the detox process can be difficult. Among the most difficult drugs to detox from are opioids, alcohol and benzodiazepines. Detox from these substances may be accompanied by medical prescriptions (if the patient is agreeable; we never require patients to take prescriptions that are not medically necessary).
When you begin the detox process, it can be a shock to your system to suddenly have to do without the substances you are used to using. You may have trouble sleeping; feel anxious, angry or sad; or suffer from nausea, shaking, chills, fevers, sweating, cramps and more. We don’t sugarcoat it; it’s a difficult road, but we are here for you 24/7 to help you through the detox process. And that’s the difference between going to an inpatient rehab facility and attempting the detox process on your own — having the trained help you need to detox correctly.
However, we sometimes instruct clients who have been taking medication prescribed for their depression to continue through detox or begin a step-down process to gradually remove these drugs from their systems. It can do more harm than good to abruptly halt medications prescribed for depression. That being said, sometimes these medications are not working the way the prescriber had hoped. Additionally, in the case of multiple prescriptions being used to combat depression, it may be better to wean clients off these meds and start with a clean slate, in order to see if another medication or intervention will work better. It is extremely difficult — if not impossible — to make this determination when the client is using other drugs or alcohol, and that’s one reason that a residential treatment facility is so helpful in these circumstances. Alpine Recovery Lodge in particular is a top choice for inpatient rehab for dual diagnoses because we have a medical doctor on staff, which is not common among Utah residential treatment facilities.
When people think of rehab, they often think of addiction (or physical therapy), but we apply it much more broadly here at Alpine Recovery Lodge. One definition of rehab is “the action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after … illness.” And mental illness counts just as much as any other illness. Like with a chronic physical illness, the goal is to treat your depression to the extent it is treatable, and then learn to manage it as best you can from day to day.
As those suffering from depression may be aware, there are many drugs on the market purporting to treat this mental illness. While they are proven to be at least somewhat effective, the truth is that it can be a lengthy process to find the one — or ones — that work best for your depression. Keeping a journal of your feelings during this time can help you look back and make more accurate judgments of which drugs helped you the most.
As important as prescriptions can be in treating depression, they are only part of the process of getting well again. Our clients undergo intensive therapy while here — individual, family and group therapy — to help them get to the roots of their depression. While depression often has a component related to brain chemistry, our lives and lifestyles can also play parts in how healthy we feel.
Those who have suffered trauma in their lives are more vulnerable to depression. Witnessing or suffering physical or sexual assault, being abandoned (even accidentally through death or unintentionally through incarceration) or feeling unloved or rejected can intensify feelings of depression. We cannot fully protect ourselves from such events in our lives, but we can equip ourselves with the skills we need to deal with them and move on. You will learn these important skills here at our inpatient treatment program.
Mental Health: Day Treatment & IOP Programs
Once you regain your health and graduate from our inpatient recovery program, you will become eligible for our day treatment program, also known as PHP. This means you will be discharged from our residential rehabilitation facility and return to your own home, but you will still attend program here five to six days a week, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is an exciting time for those in recovery from addiction or mental health challenges because you will now get to try out the skills you have learned at our inpatient treatment program. This can feel scary to many of our clients, and that’s what day treatment programs are about — you are once again living in the real world, but with our full support almost every day of the week.
As you get used to the day treatment program, you can look forward to our IOP, or outpatient treatment program. It is very similar to day treatment, with daily therapy and life-skills tutoring, but for fewer hours and fewer days per week. This is the final step in the three-step process to recovery. If you have never been to an inpatient treatment program, the idea of graduating may seem frightening and you may fear relapse. But with mental health conditions such as depression, you learn that ups and downs are a normal part of life and not to be feared. Your ups and downs may be higher and lower than others’, but that doesn’t mean you can’t cope with them. You can — we know you can.
Our goal is for our clients to feel safe and supported while they are here at our Utah residential rehab center. To that end, we make your surroundings as warm and comforting as possible, with soft beds, fluffy pillows, inspirational art, stunning views of the mountains, and nutritious, delicious food prepared for you daily by our esteemed chef.
We encourage clients to spend time outdoors in nature and to participate in experiential therapy — drawing, journaling, playing music or finding another creative outlet to help them express feelings and deepen their attachments to meaningful hobbies.Whether you suffer from depression that has become progressively debilitating or it’s more cyclical, whether your depression is accompanied by addiction or not, the team at Alpine Recovery Lodge can help. If you feel like you’ve tried everything and it hasn’t worked, we can tell you that our inpatient treatment program is different, and coming here may just be the decision that turns your life around.