Patients suffering from addiction most times find themselves suffering from mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and related conditions.
The opposite is true, with mental health patients abusing substances to numb their emotional pain.
Detecting comorbidity or the co-existence of substance use disorder and a mental health condition in a dual diagnosis treatment center is key, as it helps treat both conditions simultaneously where possible.
Below, we explore dual diagnosis and why it is not offered at every addiction center.
Why dual diagnosis is important.
A dual diagnosis treatment center means the addiction center is fully equipped and integrated to handle addiction and related mental disorders. This approach is important because treating one condition alone may expose the patient to relapse. For instance, treating alcohol addiction without handling depression in the patient may lead them back to alcohol as they unsuccessfully try to deal with the depression.
Alcohol and drug addiction and psychiatric illnesses frequently co-occur. Sometimes, one condition may worsen the other, making the entire treatment program futile. A depressed person may use alcohol to numb themselves, making the situation worse. This calls for a system where the two treatments are integrated.
Dual diagnosis treatment centers.
Generally, mental health and addiction services are run separately. Patients with mental health issues are most likely to be taken to a mental hospital, while those with addiction problems end up in rehab. This system has been established for a long time, making it very difficult for patients seeking a dual diagnosis to find help in the same place.
However, currently, there are a few dual-diagnosis treatment programs that handle the conditions in one setting. This requires specialists who can handle different disorders by working hand in hand and sharing patients’ files with one common goal. Treatment facilities are also increasingly getting equipped to treat such comorbidities
The benefits of dual diagnosis treatment.
- Dual diagnosis patients have a higher chance of overcoming the conditions.
The specialists involved during the treatment can easily work together to determine whether the disorders are related and forge a method of treating both. Besides, each specialist only treats what they are tasked to treat.
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It’s more affordable.
Having both programs run concurrently is affordable compared to running them as separate programs. There’s also a possibility of relapse before the other disorder is treated, which makes the initial treatment more expensive.
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Dual diagnosis treats the root cause of the problem.
Treating an addiction may not handle issues such as childhood trauma, which could be the addiction’s root cause, considering most adults do not know how to process emotional pain. Dual diagnosis treats the underlying cause, walks the patient through the issue, and helps them work on their thought processes and behaviors to avoid a relapse.
Choose a dual d iagnosis center.
A dual diagnosis treatment center is ideal because dual diagnosis treatments are not offered at every addiction center. However, institutions are investing in both since this approach gives patients a better chance to recover, is inexpensive compared to different treatments, and allows easier treatment of the root cause.
