Chemical Dependency / Substance Abuse

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently co-occurs with substance abuse and dependency upon drugs impacting mental and physical well-being. Because young adults with BPD frequently have strong emotions, casual use of alcohol and/or drugs may lead to abuse or dependence.

It is never too soon to treat substance addiction or abuse. While abuse and addiction are separate conditions, they involve many of the same underlying issues and show similar symptoms. Signs an individual needs help include the following:

• Sudden weight loss or gain
• Cycles of extreme emotional ups and downs
• Increased irritability or anger, apathy or depression
• Abrupt life changes such as difficulty maintaining a job
• Prevailing relationship disconnection

You may be self-medicating in order to decrease the intense emotional experiences that are a hallmark of BPD.You may be experiencing a sense of emptiness or lack of identity and have been trying to fill that emptiness for yourself through using substances and coming to depend upon them for numbing your suffering. You may have experienced a family history of substance abuse or addiction, which could mean there is a genetic predisposition. It may be a learned coping mechanism.

In OPI Intensive, we work with participants to access the challenges which cause them to self-medicate. Using our evidence-based treatments and experiential-mindfulness therapeutic modalities, participants can address issues

While our OPI Intensive is not exclusively a chemical rehabilitation program, many of our adults are in the process of making positive changes through the stages of preparing for, maintaining, and acting toward their recovery.

We do not accept young adults who have used intravenous opiates.