Your Gifts: Helping when addiction and mental illness co-occur

"Lauren kept pumping me with positive! There were times when I wanted to just give up, but she encouraged me to keep going. That's when changes started to happen-slowly, but they happened."
-- Mary Munro

Although healthy and athletic growing up, like many young women, Mary Munro was not completely at ease with her physical appearance. What began as yo-yo dieting in her late teens eventually developed into anorexia and then bulimia in her 20s. This took a toll on her self-esteem, and she found comfort in drinking.

Mary was very secretive about her habits, finding it hard to discuss personal issues, and she continued to use alcohol and have problems with eating. She eventually married, had three children and worked as a flight attendant, all the while continuing to conceal her struggles with food and alcohol. But things began to spiral downward for Mary after her divorce.

Although she knew she had a serious problem, Mary was convinced that she was unable to get better and was constantly feeling ashamed and depressed. She felt isolated with the burden of keeping her problems locked up and began to lose contact with friends and family. She finally made a call for help.

"My energy, confidence and motivation were at an all-time low," she says. "I just knew that I didn't want to live like this anymore."

At first, Mary found it difficult to get the treatment she needed. "Finding treatment was very frustrating-most facilities will not treat two disorders; it's either one or the other, not both." She was eventually referred to the Eating Disorders and Addiction Clinic, one of the clinics in CAMH's Concurrent Disorders Program.

There she began seeing Lauren Dixon, a CAMH therapist who helped her find alternative ways to deal with emotions and stress so that Mary did not have to turn to unhealthy eating or alcohol.

During her treatment at the clinic, Mary received cognitive therapy for anxiety and also participated in a three-week residential program to focus on her drinking habits. "I knew that I had to first stabilize my drinking in order to address my bulimia," she says.

After initially being skeptical of treatment methods, Mary began to see the importance of learning to be open and honest with herself and her therapists. "Mary has found her voice," says Lauren. "She's gained the confidence and strength to put her struggles into words and by doing so has let go of her shame."

With her three children as her biggest motivators, Mary is now enjoying the benefits of seeking help: her newfound confidence, energy and overall quality of life.

"The program offers a solution to the whole problem, rather than isolating one or the other, since they often overlap and are driven by similar things or by each other. Clients are happy to find a place that meets all of their needs." -- Lauren Dixon, MS, RSW Therapist, Eating Disorders and Addiction Clinic, CAMH

The Eating Disorders and Addiction Clinic, a part of the CAMH Concurrent Disorders Program, offers specialized outpatient treatments to male and female clients with substance use problems accompanied by an eating disorder. The treatment incorporates group and individual therapy, using a variety of approaches to best serve each client.

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