CleanSlate Blog

I grew up in a middle-class family about 10 minutes from CleanSlate’s Wilkes-Barre center. Growing up, my neighborhood seemed like the perfect suburban community. My parents didn’t lock their doors and loved their country and neighbors. The only reference to drug education we had was Nancy Reagan’s, “Just Say No” campaign and most people in my community thought that if people did just that, the drug problem would cease.

Addiction is a disease that affects virtually every aspect of a person’s life, so we believe recovery must also address the whole person. That’s why CleanSlate’s treatment for substance use disorder includes medical, behavioral and mental health services to help us fully address each patient’s needs. 

People often talk about behavioral and mental health without differentiating between the two. Behavioral health is the connection our behaviors have on our overall health. Mental health encompasses specific emotional, psychological and social factors that affect our behavioral health.

Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions nationwide. It affects more than 16 million Americans each year and nearly 30% of affected individuals also struggle with substance use disorder.

Out of the millions of Americans who suffer from depression, only 35% seek treatment. Many people try to avoid or hide their feelings out of fear of stigma or judgment. This can lead to self-medication and relying on substances to cope. Eventually, substance use can become a crutch and turn into an addiction. 

CleanSlate’s patient support agents take calls and chats from current and future patients, concerned family members, community partners and referring physicians. Our knowledgeable and highly trained team members are skilled at providing help in a variety of situations. Read more about our Patient Support Center.

When working to maintain recovery, treating your mental health is as important as addiction treatment. Substance use disorders often co-occur with mental health conditions and can feed off each other. Many people who struggle with mental health turn to alcohol or drugs to cope and using substances can cause or perpetuate mental health symptoms. Read our tips for prioritizing your mental health and keeping your recovery journey on track.

Marvin McCloe is an exemplary member of the CleanSlate team, admired by his peers because of his authenticity and ability to connect with patients. He has been a certified recovery specialist at CleanSlate in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for more than four years and has helped many patients remain committed to their recovery journey because of his unwavering optimism and hope. To Marvin, his job at CleanSlate goes beyond a typical employment opportunity. “It’s a lifestyle,” he says. “Helping people is a part of who I am.”

People in recovery for substance use disorder often feel isolated and shameful about their addiction. They may also feel uncertain about how to interact in social settings without using substances. Strong support and acceptance from loved ones is an important piece of maintaining recovery. Read our tips for how you can support your loved one during social interactions as they navigate recovery.

September is National Recovery Month. Every year at this time, we recognize the importance of spreading awareness of substance use disorders and working to end the opioid epidemic. While the nation’s focus largely shifted to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the opioid crisis continued to worsen in the background. It is important to understand how the disease of addiction affects people in different ways and that every recovery journey is different. By becoming more informed, we can help raise awareness of addiction and combat it. 

Behavioral health conditions and substance use disorders often exist together, making them co-occurring disorders. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly nine million people who struggle with addiction have co-occurring mental health or behavioral health disorder. While neither issue definitively causes the other, one condition can exacerbate the other’s symptoms.

Let’s face it – when you call a company and you get their call center, it’s easy to feel frustrated. Many call centers are third parties hired by companies to handle customer service issues. While this works fine for some organizations, when it comes to getting answers about your health, it’s important to know you’re actually getting answers from the people you’re trying to reach. That’s why at CleanSlate, our calls and chats are answered by our in-house patient support agents who work extended hours to ensure current and potential patients have access to the help they need when they need it.