Dual Diagnosis Rehab is a great way for you to get the help that you need. Dual diagnosis, also known as co-occurring disorders, is an official clinical term employed to describe a person struggling with drug addiction and a psychological or mental disorder at the same time. However, things don’t get any easier after that. Dual diagnosis patients are complicated to treat since they tend to exacerbate each other if left untreated. It is also common for certain mental illnesses to share many symptoms with addictions. As a result, determining just what causes what can be challenging. Additionally, dual diagnosis patients are at a high risk for adverse outcomes, so it is imperative that patients seeking rehabilitation seek a facility familiar with Dual Diagnosis.
Dual diagnosis can be a debilitating condition, and you must understand what it is if you’re suffering from it. If you or a loved one struggles with a dual diagnosis, then know that you aren’t alone.
Dual Diagnosis Rehab centers offer different kinds of treatment depending on the severity of your problem. The treatment options available can range from inpatient to outpatient programs. Many addicts choose to enter a long-term residential program in an attempt to kick the habit. However, many people prefer outpatient programs because they give addicts the opportunity to work out their problems without facing them all the time. When patients can work their way out of addiction and back on to a normal life, they can stay sober for longer than if they were living in an inpatient program.
The first step to getting the treatment you need is to visit a rehabilitation center. At a Dual Diagnosis Rehab center, you’ll find an entire team of physicians, therapists, and other mental health professionals working together to diagnose and treat your addiction. During your evaluation, they will ask about your addiction, you’recoping strategies, and any traumatic events that may have happened to you in the past that may have contributed to your problem. They will work closely with you to design an individualized treatment plan just for you, which may include daily medication or therapy or a combination of the two.
The rehabilitation team will also provide therapy for your co-occurring disorders to help you understand and overcome them as you work toward complete recovery. In some Dual Diagnosis Rehab centers, they integrate the twelve-step program with daily counseling sessions to help patients understand their problems and learn new ways of dealing with them. A professional therapist may provide counseling from the Alcoholics Anonymous organization.
If you’re considering Rehab inpatient care, there are several things you can do to prepare for the admission process. First, talk with your primary care physician about the possibility of a dual diagnosis. If you have a co-occurring illness, you should be prepared to discuss that illness with the doctors at Dual Diagnosis Rehab. The medical community is more aware of dual diagnosis than ever before, and many inpatient treatment facilities recognize the potential of patients’ co-occurrence. The more help you can get in your treatment preparation stages, the better you will be prepared to live and function while on detox.
Your goal should be to address both issues simultaneously – that is, coping with your addiction and the symptoms. This approach addresses the most common issue – coping with addiction, but it does not address the co-occurrence of your other symptoms, like depression and anxiety. The goal is to balance those symptoms while getting the help you need to overcome them. It is important to remember that co-occurrences are usually more challenging to treat than a single occurrence because it’s difficult to determine what the exact cause of your symptoms was. Inpatient treatment can give you the foundation you need to stabilize yourself to live a fuller and more productive life.
You Should Be Aware of The Following Facts Regarding Dual Diagnosis Rehab:
Detox Is the First Step
Drug and alcohol detoxification is the first step in the rehab process. In the event that the patient requires medications for his psychiatric condition, these will be administered carefully by the staff.
Rehab is a term that describes an addiction treatment program that combines the techniques of other addiction treatment programs. Dual Diagnosis Rehab is not for the person looking to get clean and sober. It’s also not for the addict trying to kick their habit on their own. It all starts with detox. Detox is the first step in any addiction treatment, and it is often the hardest step.
Following Your Own Pace
In the conventional treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, patients’ own denial must be overcome, but dual diagnosis patients lack this luxury. Adding to the fragility of the situation is the possibility of addiction being caused by mental illness. Rehabilitation professionals working with dual diagnosis patients will likely move at a slower pace – seeking the “sweet spot” that will make them comfortable, not aggravate their mental conditions, and still move the recovery process along.
Many addicts start an inpatient rehab program and then find themselves relapsing. This is because they are using the “old-school” methods of self-treatment. This is not the right way to treat addiction. Rehab is based on the new belief that all illness has a second cause. That is, it can begin with sickness that we experience from day-to-day life, such as stress and trauma, and then add on symptoms that come from other sources outside of our body. In other words, our bodies can be sick from many different things outside of our normal scope.
There are over 1. 8 million Americans with co-occurring disorders like bipolar and alcoholism. This number is growing rapidly and is likely much higher than the number of people with these disorders who seek treatment in hospitals. Treatment for these disorders requires both inpatient and outpatient care. Outpatient care is usually reserved for those who can’t stay in a hospital for more than a week or so because of their health or financial reasons. Inpatient care usually lasts about one month.
Dual Diagnosis Rehab provides services for those in the chronic stages of their co-occurring disorder. Those co-occurring disorders might include bipolar, depression, anxiety, addictive behaviors, and abuse. Most people will go through some period where they are dealing with one of these disorders before getting to the phase where they are co-occurring. Rehab takes in people during these times to help them with treatment and recovery.
When a person is in the acute phase of one of their co-occurring disorders, they are referred to inpatient. The treatment is more intense, and the recovery process much longer. People go through different treatment levels depending on how severe their illness is and how well they are doing with their treatment. Some people require hospitalization for their co-occurring disorders. This is especially true of people who have bipolar disorder and bipolar disorder.
It can take up to six months to a year for someone to get out of the acute stage. During this time, they have to go through various programs geared towards their specific needs. These include both inpatient treatment and outpatient treatment. Dual Diagnosis Rehab takes patients who are dealing with substance use disorders and who also suffer from co-occurring disorders to get the best possible treatment possible.
Simultaneous Treatment of The Issues
It is absolutely critical to treat mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction simultaneously in rehab. If you treat one part of the problem while neglecting the other, you will only solve one part of the problem to the detriment of another.
Dual Diagnosis Rehabilitation centers are designed specifically for those with two different mental illnesses that might affect their lives. Dual Diagnosis is a unique niche within the field of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. This specialty of treatment is meant to help those who have both an addiction problem and a psychological disorder that go hand in hand. Rehabilitation is specifically geared towards helping people with co-occurring disorders and mental problems. When two conditions are present, the addict will have to work together with the psychiatrist or psychologist to treat their addiction and cope with the underlying mental problem. This type of treatment is completely individualized, and it requires collaboration between all parties involved in the recovery process.
Dual Diagnosis Rehab provides individuals with the treatment they need to become free from physical and mental illness. With a dual diagnosis, a person has to be diagnosed with two different illnesses to receive treatment in a dual diagnosis program. Individuals who have a co-occurring mental illness will often struggle with addiction and substance abuse simultaneously. So they turn to alcohol and other substances as a form of temporary relief. Unfortunately, many of these individuals do not realize that they have a deeper mental illness and do not receive treatment. Rehab treatment centers provide individuals with the help they need to battle both problems simultaneously and receive the long-term treatment they need to become healthy and stay that way. This treatment is only available through a specialty addiction treatment center that specializes in rehab.
Co-Occurring Disorders There are many people out there who have a mental illness and another co-occurring with it. These individuals desperately need professionals’ assistance in their journey to recovery, but many people do not realize that they have a co-occurring disorder until it is too late. It is often difficult for co-occurring disorders to be detected early, but treatment can be begun immediately once an individual is identified. In many cases, the disorder is discovered during a routine medical exam or when a therapist notices some behavior patterns that seem to be beyond normal for the patient.
Formulating a Winning Strategy
The patient must have a plan of action for the post-rehab program in order for rehab to be successful, not to mention living life after rehab overall. Especially vital in the case of patients with dual diagnosis is a treatment plan. Due to the high risk of relapse that dual diagnosed patients face, they should attend to their recovery more closely than the rest of the population.. Adding in the need for continued psychiatric treatment, you can begin to see how much is actually required for those with dual diagnoses to maintain proper aftercare.
Substance Use Treatment the American Psychiatric Association classifies five types of mental health conditions: abuse and dependency on a substance. Those disorders are alcoholism, gambling, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia. All of these require treatment in some way to be rid of them for good. Unfortunately, many people continue to use drugs or alcohol even when cleared of any diagnosable mental illness. Unfortunately, many people who abuse drugs and alcohol do not seek treatment for their behaviors until they have lost their jobs or had a stroke or a serious accident. Because of this, many substance use disorders go untreated.
Dual Diagnosis Rehab centers can help address the issues of both substance abuse and mental illness. If you find yourself struggling with any substance use or mental illness, you may want to consider Rehab. These centers offer the best care possible for dual diagnosis patients who need specialized treatment for their multiple health issues. At one of these facilities, professionals will conduct a complete physical, psychological, and emotional evaluation of you or your loved one and determine the root cause of your problems.
Once your doctor has determined that you have a co-occurring disorder, they will recommend that you receive treatment for all three disorders at one time. However, please note that Dual Diagnosis Rehab does not offer treatment for other mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder. If you are receiving counseling for another mental illness or drug addiction, please contact Dual Diagnosis Rehab immediately and make an appointment for therapy. While there is no substitute for receiving proper treatment for any of the disorders we mentioned here, rehab can help you achieve wellness by offering intensive, integrated treatment for all of your symptoms and discomforts.
Those suffering from a coexisting mental disorder and a substance abuse problem are understood to have special needs by Foundations Recovery Network centers. By working closely with individuals and providing support to their families, these facilities contribute to changing lives. A beautiful setting and non-confrontational methods employed at this center all add to its unique appeal. Dual diagnosis treatment means a new beginning for those dealing with a dual diagnosis, as they lay out a plan for a bright future, free of substance abuse and with mental health issues managed properly. Contact us to know more about Dual Diagnosis Rehab.
Ben Lesser is one of the most sought-after experts in health, fitness and medicine. His articles impress with unique research work as well as field-tested skills. He is a freelance medical writer specializing in creating content to improve public awareness of health topics. We are honored to have Ben writing exclusively for Dualdiagnosis.org.