If you’re searching for alcoholism treatment in Florida, you’re likely dealing with more than just drinking. Alcohol use disorder often develops alongside depression, anxiety, or trauma. Treating only one piece of that picture rarely leads to lasting recovery.

At Restore Mental Health in Deerfield Beach, we treat alcohol use disorder through a mental health lens. Our clinical team addresses the anxiety, depression, or trauma that often drives drinking while coordinating care for the alcohol use itself, so both sides of your treatment stay connected.

This page covers what alcohol use disorder actually is. You’ll also learn the signs to watch for and how dual diagnosis alcohol treatment works when both conditions need care together.

What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?

Alcohol use disorder, or AUD, is a chronic medical condition. A person with AUD has trouble controlling how much they drink, even when it causes real problems in their life. Clinicians often use the terms AUD and alcoholism to describe the same condition.

AUD isn’t only about willpower. It changes how the brain responds to alcohol over time, creating a physical and emotional pull toward drinking. That pull can grow strong enough to affect work, relationships, and physical health. Because AUD develops gradually, many people don’t notice the signs until the condition has already taken hold.

Signs and Symptoms of AUD

AUD looks different for each person, but a few signs tend to repeat. If you or someone you love shows several of these together, it’s worth taking seriously.

Physical signs of intoxication can include dizziness, shakiness, slurred speech, and tremors. Someone with AUD often shows these signs on a regular basis, not just occasionally.

Alcohol Withdrawal

When someone with AUD stops or cuts back suddenly, withdrawal symptoms can follow. These may include irritability, anxiety, sweating, a fast heart rate, and trouble sleeping. Alcohol withdrawal can become medically serious, and in some cases, life-threatening. Withdrawal should always happen under medical supervision, never on your own.

How Alcohol Use Disorder and Mental Health Conditions Connect

Alcohol is legal and widely available, so most adults have tried it at some point. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAAA, 85% of adults in the United States report drinking alcohol at least once in their life. Trying alcohol once doesn’t put everyone at risk for AUD, but it can trigger a problem in people who are already vulnerable.

NIAAA data from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health also shows 27.9 million people ages 12 and older had AUD in the past year. Mental health conditions follow a similar pattern. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly one in four U.S. adults, about 61.5 million people, had a mental illness in the past year. These two conditions overlap often.

Sometimes mental illness comes first. A person might drink to cope with symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or anxiety. Limited access to care, a lack of insurance, and stigma around mental health all play a role.

Other times, mental health struggles follow heavy or prolonged drinking. Alcohol is a depressant, and it disrupts the balance of chemicals in the brain. It also leads to poor sleep, financial strain, and rising stress, and any of these can bring on a mental health condition over time.

Why Both Conditions Need Treatment at the Same Time

When alcohol use disorder and a mental health condition occur together, clinicians call it dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorders. Millions of people live with both at once, and treating only one side rarely leads to lasting recovery.

If depression or trauma goes untreated, the urge to drink often returns, even after a period of sobriety. The same happens in reverse. Alcohol use can undo the progress made in therapy for anxiety or depression. Dual diagnosis alcohol treatment addresses both conditions together, so neither one gets left to resurface later.

Levels of Care for Alcohol Use Disorder

Restore offers a few levels of care for alcohol use disorder. The right one depends on how severe your symptoms are, and on any co-occurring mental health condition.

Residential treatment means living at our Deerfield Beach campus for a set period, usually one month or longer. This level works well for people managing both AUD and a mental health condition, since it removes outside stress and adds close clinical support.

Outpatient care lets you keep living at home while attending scheduled treatment sessions. Partial hospitalization, or PHP, and intensive outpatient, or IOP, both fall under this category. They offer structured support at a lower intensity than residential care, and work well once you’ve stabilized.

Before therapy for AUD can begin, alcohol needs to leave your system through a process called detox. Detox can bring on difficult withdrawal symptoms, and in rare cases, it can turn into a medical emergency. Detox should always take place under medical supervision, and your care team will coordinate it as part of your treatment plan.

Once your assessment is complete, our clinical team recommends the level of care that fits your needs. That might mean residential treatment, outpatient support, or both in sequence.

Therapies Used in AUD Treatment

Treatment for alcohol use disorder works best when it targets both the drinking and what sits underneath it. Your plan at Restore may include a mix of these approaches:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, to identify and change the thought patterns that drive drinking
• Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, to build skills for managing intense emotions
• Group therapy, where you connect with others working through similar challenges
• Family therapy, to repair relationships strained by AUD
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, used when trauma plays a role

Your clinical team builds your plan around your specific diagnosis, history, and goals. No two treatment plans look exactly alike.

Treatment at Restore

Restore Mental Health treats alcohol use disorder as part of a larger mental health picture, not as a stand-alone problem. Our clinical team includes on-site psychiatric providers who diagnose and treat co-occurring conditions like depression, anxiety, and trauma alongside AUD.

Your clinical team at Restore builds every treatment plan around your specific history and needs. Our programs in Deerfield Beach, Florida, are licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration and accredited by The Joint Commission and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). When alcohol use is part of a broader substance use disorder, your care team coordinates that treatment with your mental health care so nothing falls through the cracks.

Getting Started with Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment at Restore

If you’re ready to start alcoholism treatment in Florida, Restore Mental Health is here to help. Our admissions team is available around the clock to answer questions and walk you through next steps.

Call (877) 810-2074 or fill out our online form to get started.