Important Things That You Must Know About Dual Diagnosis

Dual diagnosis is made when an individual is suffering from both psychological health and substance abuse issues. Those who have this diagnosis can be successfully cured in dual diagnosis treatment centers with programs that simultaneously address both disorders.

Concepts and Philosophies

Those who have dual diagnosis suffer from bipolar, tension, schizophrenia, despair, personality and manic problems. They also have addictive habits to drugs and other substances. In most cases, it’s difficult to identify which disorder came first. Most likely, a person is prompted by his psychological issue to abuse alcohol or drugs or his substance problems pre-dated their psychological issues. The patient’s mental problem can also be aggravated by the substance use. For instance, when he smokes cannabis, his psychotic episode can be triggered.

As stated by mental physicians, those who have issues in neural functioning are more likely to have dual diagnosis. This diagnosis has also been associated to individuals with a history of parental neglect, poverty, physical or sexual abuse, inner city life styles and self-medication.

Impact of Dual Diagnosis

The lack of education and learning about dual diagnosis can be disappointing for sufferers and their loved ones. They could experience the following

• Being blamed by doctors for not responding to Dual Diagnosis Treatment instead of evaluating whether or not there is a problem to their health care system in terms of offering dual diagnosis therapies.

• Having their mental issue regarded as a secondary problem when they seek for a drug or alcohol abuse therapy. Similarly, when they wish to be treated for their psychological issue, their drug or alcohol abuse will be addressed as a side effect or a secondary issue.

• Many may not be provided with early and specialist intervention.

• The treatment may not involve their loved ones, although the family has the familiarity of the problem and sufferings of the dual diagnosis patient.

Management and Treatment of Dual Diagnosis

Often, it’s not easy to manage dual diagnosis as this could mean more challenging behaviors such as aggression or self-harm, rejection of services and non-compliance to alcohol or Drug Treatment Programs. That is why the therapy and recovery processes should be closely watched by a team of expert professionals who have knowledge on both substance abuse and mental health disorders. They will give treatments that go beyond inpatient programs as the full recovery of people with dual diagnosis should include continuous help and assessment which will lead them to get their own job, deal with relationships and manage their expenses.