Muse Addiction Treatment Center on America’s New Mental Health Hotline 988

Los Angeles, California -

Los Angeles, CA - Anyone in distress can now reach out for help with a mental health or substance abuse emergency with a simple three-digit hotline: 988. Muse Treatment, which provides therapy for both conditions, applauds the relaunch of the National Helpline operated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Just by calling or texting 988, individuals and family members can get free assistance in English or Spanish around the clock, 365 days a year. The hotline’s trained counselors can help callers and texters cope with their emergency and refer them to local mental health and substance use treatment services. The hotline’s counselors are trained to handle a wide variety of mental health issues, including self-harm, addiction, and suicidal ideation. They can also offer guidance on helping a friend or loved one navigate a mental health emergency.

When someone contacts 988, they will first be connected to one of 200 local call centers, which can help them find community resources. Then, in an emergency such as a suicide threat, they will connect the caller or texter with local emergency dispatch services.

The 988 service is a makeover of SAMHSA’s original suicide prevention hotline, 800-273-8255, which first opened in 2015. The number still works but was revamped due to concerns that it was too long for people to remember during a crisis. The service has also been enhanced with an expanded network of mental health professionals.

Muse Treatment believes 988 will be an essential tool in the fight against substance use and mental health disorders, which often combine in a condition known as a dual diagnosis.

Nearly 9 million Americans are battling both addiction and a mental illness, but only 7.4% receive treatment for this dual diagnosis, according to the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF). In addition, research by the National Institute of Mental Health has shown that about half of those who experience a substance use disorder have struggled with a co-occurring mental illness such as anxiety, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, personality disorder, or schizophrenia.

Dual diagnosis care is among the treatments available at Muse, which offers residential and outpatient centers in Southern California. The goal of all treatment programs at Muse is to seek the source of the addiction, which may be an underlying emotional or psychological disorder that the addict is self-medicating with drugs or alcohol.

Muse approaches addiction as a symptom of an underlying emotional or psychological disorder, often resulting from trauma earlier in life. This dual diagnosis makes more lasting recovery possible; the client may be “self-medicating” their anxiety, depression, or other condition. In the end, they may resolve the addiction, but relapse becomes more likely if they haven’t confronted the underlying illness.

For example, the addict’s use of drugs or alcohol may be a coping mechanism to relieve depression or anxiety. In this case, the treatment team may have to explore the client’s past to discover traumatic episodes or other events that may have led to the underlying disorder. It’s essential to treat both conditions together; if the addiction is resolved but not its underlying cause, the chance of a relapse is significantly increased.

Muse believes SAMHSA’s 988 service will help many people to recognize the need for a comprehensive approach to addiction and mental health treatment so they can receive the kind of care that Muse offers on a daily basis. For help or more information, visit Muse Treatment or call (800) 426-1818.