Dual Diagnosis Treatment for Addicted Individuals with Mental Illness
Substance Abuse & Mental Illness
Transitions Recovery
Dual Diagnosis – Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
Dual diagnosis refers to the co-occurrence of substance abuse addiction and mental illness. Drug and alcohol addiction often co-occur with other disorders, even though a substance abuse patient may not find out until seeking drug or alcohol addiction treatment. It has been estimated that up to 70 percent of individuals with drug and alcohol addictions may suffer from dual diagnosis, with undiagnosed and untreated secondary diagnoses.
The Importance of a Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center
Those suffering from dual diagnosis may face greater difficulty than other substance abuse treatment patients. Often, mental health services are not well prepared to deal with dual diagnosis patients, and only one of the problems may be identified. If both substance abuse and a mental disorder are recognized, the individual may bounce back and forth between mental illness and substance abuse addiction treatment services. Or they may be refused treatment by each provider.
Substance abuse complicates almost every aspect of care for the person with mental illness. They may not be accommodated at home or tolerated in community residences of drug rehab programs. They lose their support systems and suffer frequent relapses and hospitalizations. Violence is more prevalent among those with a dual diagnosis. Both domestic violence and suicide attempts are more common, and a high percentage of the mentally ill who wind up in jails and prisons turn to alcohol addiction and substance abuse.
An individual requiring dual diagnosis treatment can be very difficult to engage in dual diagnosis treatment. And diagnosis is difficult because it takes time to unravel the interacting effects of substance abuse and the mental illness. However, dual diagnosis is becoming more and more recognized, and some substance abuse treatment centers are becoming equipped to address dual diagnosis in their addiction treatment programs.
Transitions Recovery Florida drug rehab center is dually licensed as a special psychiatric health and behavioral health facility. All patients receive focused treatment to address their symptoms and achieve an understanding of disorders and the changes they can make to prevent further dual diagnosis disease behaviors.
Facts about Dual Diagnosis
It is now generally agreed that as much as 50 percent of the mentally ill population also has a substance abuse problem, requiring dual diagnosis treatment. Most common is alcohol addiction, followed by marijuana and cocaine use. Prescription drugs such as tranquilizers and sleeping medicines are also commonly abused. The incidence of substance abuse is greater among males and those aged 18 to 44.
People with mental illnesses may engage in substance abuse or alcohol addiction without their families knowing it. It is now reported that both mental health professionals and families of mentally ill relatives underestimate the amount of substance abuse and alcohol addiction among people in their care. This may be due to the difficulty in separating the dual diagnosis behaviors of mental illness from those of drug and alcohol addiction. There may be denial of the problem, because there has been so little to offer people with dual diagnosis illnesses.
People with co-occurring disorders or dual diagnosis may begin to use drugs or alcohol for recreational use but continue to try to treat symptoms of the illness or the side effects of their medications and reduce anxiety or depression – at least for the short term. Some professionals also speculate that there may be some underlying vulnerability of the individual that precipitates the dual diagnosis individual with both mental illness and substance abuse. They believe that these individuals may be at risk of dual diagnosis with even mild drug use.
Social factors may also play a part in continued substance abuse. People with mental illnesses suffer from what has been called “downward drift.” They may find themselves living in marginal neighborhoods where alcohol addiction and drug use prevails. Having difficulty developing social relationships, dual diagnosis sufferers find themselves more easily accepted by groups whose social activity is based on drug use. Some may believe that an identity based on drug or alcohol addiction is more acceptable than one based on mental illness.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment at Transitions Recovery
Transitions Recovery addiction treatment and drug rehab center offers hope in dual diagnosis treatment. Our drug rehab and dual diagnosis treatment center integrates the treatment of substance abuse with mental health for effective dual diagnosis treatment. We regularly serve patients having some type of mental disorder and also requiring addiction treatment. Our Dual Disorders Program is designed to identify and address all these problems, combining the resources of both mental health and substance abuse fields for a dynamic program addressing the needs of patients with one or several diagnoses.
In addition to substance abuse treatment, our highly qualified staff offer specialized individual and group therapy for depression, anxiety, sexual addiction, abuse and trauma resolution, eating disorders, and more. We also provide medication management and individual counseling for a wide range of mental illnesses and other personality and behavioral disorders.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center Components
In the Transitions Recovery dual diagnosis treatment program, educational components play an important role. The more an individual understands the disorder, the better able they are to manage the impact of disease behaviors on themselves, their family, and on their social community.
Some of the components of our dual diagnosis treatment program include the following:
- Psycho-education – Lectures, groups, and individual sessions educate the dual diagnosis patient about the medical and psychological aspects of the patient’s dual diagnosis.Expert pharmacotherapy – If medications are indicated, the most effective medications offering the greatest benefit and the least side effects are used.
- 12-Step programs – Patients are provided a range of in-house 12-Step meetings according to their specific needs.
- Relapse prevention program specifically designed for ongoing recovery of the dual diagnosis patient.
- Adjunct groups that focus therapeutic work on specific areas of concern to the dual diagnosis treatment of the patient, such as compulsive gambling, cocaine/heroin addiction, eating disorders and nutrition, nicotine cessation, grief and trauma, healthy sexuality, and professionals’, women’s, and men’s groups.
- Dual diagnosis patients are encouraged to invite family members and significant others to participate in the Family Program.
- Integrative therapy includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Somatic.
Contact us today to find out more about our Transitions Recovery substance abuse and dual diagnosis treatment programs.
