Mental health and addiction link gets attention in Arkansas

By AI, Created 11:26 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Mental Health Awareness Month is highlighting how anxiety, depression, trauma and substance use often overlap in Arkansas, where frequent mental distress remains among the highest in the country. The Haven Detox Central Arkansas is using the moment to push whole-person treatment, including care for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

Why it matters: - Mental health challenges and substance use often reinforce each other, which can make recovery harder when treatment focuses on only one issue. - Arkansas has a high need for care: one in four adults struggles with mental health issues in the state, and Arkansas ranks 49th for frequent mental distress. - Whole-person treatment can improve the chances that people address both the addiction and the underlying mental health conditions driving it.

What happened: - Mental Health Awareness Month is drawing attention to the connection between mental health and addiction in Arkansas. - The Haven Detox Central Arkansas in Little Rock is spotlighting its approach to treating substance use disorders alongside co-occurring conditions such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. - Tina Morgan shared her recovery story after childhood trauma, depression and anxiety led her to use drugs and alcohol to cope. - Morgan said she first learned to address both her mental health and substance use disorder during treatment at The Haven Detox Central Arkansas.

The details: - The Haven Detox Central Arkansas provides medical detox and residential inpatient treatment for substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions. - Tiffany Terry, LCSW, executive director of The Haven Detox Central Arkansas, said untreated mental health issues can drive people to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, and substance use can also worsen psychiatric symptoms before treatment begins. - Morgan said treatment helped her face painful emotions and begin healing. - The facility works with both Medicaid and non-Medicaid patients. - The Haven Detox Central Arkansas helps patients navigate treatment barriers such as time away from work, paperwork, transportation, finances and stigma. - The facility offers GeneSight testing, a pharmacogenomic test that shows how a patient’s genes may affect medication response. - The Haven Detox Central Arkansas is Joint Commission Gold Seal-accredited and serves patients across Central Arkansas and statewide. - The facility also accepts Medicaid, VA Community Care Network and major commercial insurance.

Between the lines: - The message here is that addiction treatment may be more effective when it includes psychiatric care, not just detox or abstinence support. - Morgan’s story is being used to show that recovery can include both clinical treatment and broader life rebuilding, including work, family and community involvement. - The emphasis on insurance access and paperwork help suggests practical barriers are a major reason people delay care. - Terry said Mental Health Awareness Month is a reminder that tools and support are available for people facing overwhelming challenges and emotional pain.

What’s next: - The Haven Detox Central Arkansas is likely to keep promoting integrated treatment during Mental Health Awareness Month and beyond. - Patients seeking care can use the facility’s detox, residential and outpatient options, depending on need. - The broader policy takeaway is that Arkansas’ high mental distress rates make access to co-occurring disorder treatment especially important.