Dual diagnosis treatment centers are there to help people in need with multiple issues. This might be drug and alcohol or a combination of the two with other mental illnesses or addictions. Many times people have to deal with multiple problems at the same time rather than trying to figure out one over the other. These issues may go hand-in-hand in one cannot be solved without dealing with the other as well. That is why dual diagnosis treatment centers exist, and they are there to help people with addiction and other mental health issues. At a dual diagnosis treatment center, you will get help for addiction detox, relapse prevention plan, and counseling sessions for trauma therapy, anxiety, PTSD, among other mental health disorders.
Generally, the term dual diagnosis means that a person is dealing with both an addiction to drugs or alcohol in some sort of mental incapacity or disorder. A good percentage of these people use drugs or alcohol to deal with this disorder.
For example, someone might use a drug or drink every night to overcome the overwhelming feeling of losing a loved one. When they drink or use the drug, it dulls the pain, and temporarily their mind stops focusing on that loss. So instead of dealing with the pain head-on and grieving the loss, they instead turn to drugs and alcohol and try to pretend as nothing happened. Not being able to mentally deal with the departed loved one will eventually weigh down on that person so much that the disorder will take place. The drug or alcohol is only a temporary solution that only compounds the suppressed feelings.
When getting diagnosed, healthcare professionals must take many things into consideration. Each individual is on a different level of addiction and needs different help. Someone who has been addicted to a drug or alcohol for a very long time might have much worse psychiatric issues to deal with than someone who has been addicted for less time.
These professionals must do their best to place the individual in the right dual diagnosis treatment center that will give them the best chance to succeed in overcoming their addictions and disorders. This is not always easy to do, and many times it does not work out. That is why the individual with the addiction and disorder must have a strong will and desire to succeed and get better.
In the past, most treatment centers dealt with addictions and disorders that with each problem separately in individual treatment centers. It has not been until recently that the term dual diagnosis treatment programs came into consideration. Over time these healthcare professionals have learned that psychiatric disorders and mental addictions should be dealt with hand-in-hand, as this gives the individual the best chance to succeed.
Each individual will be diagnosed according to their problems and issues. Some will be placed in inpatient treatment, while others will be in outpatient treatment. Talk to a doctor or healthcare professional to determine what kind of dual diagnosis treatment center you will require.