What is Dual Diagnosis?
Dual diagnosis is a condition wherein a person suffers from a mental health disorder and a form of substance addiction. This can be a combination of any identified mental health disorder and substance abuse, which can both contribute to the escalation of either condition if not treated properly. People with dual diagnosis usually experience a deterioration in their quality of life in regards to:
- School
- Work
- Home life
- Personal relationships
Treatment can be complex since dual diagnosis patients experience symptoms of these disorders simultaneously, making it harder to overcome them. When substance addiction gets worse, so does a patient’s mental health disorder. Dual diagnosis treatment is a solution offered by Rego Park Counseling which aims to treat both a patient’s mental illness and substance addiction.
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Understanding How Dual Diagnosis Impacts Us
Why People with Mental Health Disorders Turn to Drugs or Alcohol
Patients with mental health disorders often resort to substance abuse as a coping mechanism for their conditions, such as the difficulty of managing their emotions and mood swings. However, drugs and alcohol often lead to the worsening of a patient’s symptoms, trapping them in an endless cycle of lows and highs. This makes it harder to address both their addiction and mental health disorder.
Why Self-Medicating Mental Health Disorders Is Dangerous
Patients often resort to self-medication to relieve their suffering from their mental illness. In the long run, however, their actions contribute to an exacerbation of symptoms since drugs and alcohol, especially if non-prescribed and abused, only provide temporary solace. Self-medication may even endanger your health since they may interact with each other and cause adverse effects. Lastly, self-medication will also discourage you from seeking professional help and will even trigger additional mental health problems. Rego Park Counseling offers dual diagnosis treatment for this very reason. Reach out today!
Common Mental Health Disorders and Addiction
Being the major cause of a dual diagnosis, it is important to identify them in their early stages to prevent exacerbation of symptoms. The most common mental health disorders that are diagnosed with substance abuse disorder are the following. Identifying these conditions plays a crucial role in crafting long-term dual diagnosis outpatient treatment.
ADHD
People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are prescribed stimulant drugs to cope with their mental health condition which can be addictive.
Bipolar Disorder
Drugs and alcohol may relieve patients from emotional stress and manic spells, tempting them to overuse drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Depression and Anxiety
People with anxiety and depression are likely self-medicating through the use of drugs like Benzodiazepines and drinking alcohol to manage their depression and anxiety symptoms.
Eating Disorders
Patients with eating disorders often use drugs and alcohol to control their appetite and suppress their feelings of inferiority.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenic patients often try to self-medicate through the use of substances to escape their hallucinations and delusions.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD patients suffer reduced production of endorphins in their brain and often turn to substance abuse to feel happy again.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Rego Park Counseling offers an array of dual diagnosis treatment options that you can choose from. We will conduct an initial patient evaluation to determine the appropriate treatment for your specific needs. These options may involve medication from one of our partner facilities and outpatient treatment. We offer cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma therapy, and other forms of dual diagnosis counseling to help you overcome your mental health disorder and substance addiction. Our dual diagnosis treatment center also requires the active participation of families and support groups to help accelerate your recovery process. Furthermore, after staying in our treatment center, we also provide family therapy to minimize the occurrence of a relapse.
Why Therapy for Dual Diagnosis Patients Is Approached Differently
There is a need to provide a dual diagnosis intensive outpatient program because it is both a psychological and physical illness which requires both facets to be dealt with in unison. Unlike patients who have mental disorders or substance addiction, sequential treatment of patients with a dual diagnosis has a higher risk of relapse. This then requires a more holistic approach through the use of our dual diagnosis outpatient program.
Dual Diagnosis Statistics
Who
About 9.2 million American adults suffer from a dual diagnosis.What
37.9% of adults with substance use disorders also have a mental illness.Impact
52.2% of people who had a dual diagnosis but did not receive mental health care could not afford the cost.Care
35.1% of dual diagnosis patients opted out of substance use care because of financial constraints.Signs That You Need Dual Diagnosis Counseling/Treatment
Before searching for “dual diagnosis treatment near me,” here are the signs that you need to look out for to know whether you need dual diagnosis counseling/treatment:
- You consume drugs or alcohol to feel fully satisfied with your life.
- You take drugs or drink alcohol to help overcome your feelings of stress, anxiety, and fear.
- You had a traumatic experience in the past.
- You have a family history of mental illnesses.
Why Treatment Centers are Necessary for Dual Diagnosis
Society often associates substance addiction with immorality. Because of this stigma, there is a need to erect dual diagnosis treatment centers to make cognitive-behavioral therapy and individual counseling available to our community. This allows us to pinpoint the root cause of their addiction and help them recover in the long run.
How We Break the Stigma of Dual Diagnosis Treatment
At Rego Park Counseling, we advocate the removal of the stigma placed upon people who suffer from substance abuse. Most of the time, these people fall prey to addiction because of their mental health disorders. With our dual diagnosis treatment, we aim to help our patients and society realize that this is never because of their lack of morality but down to a completely curable mental health disorder.
Why Rego Park Counseling?
Rego Park Counseling offers a diverse array of dual diagnosis counseling plans for each patient’s specific needs. If you think you have a dual diagnosis, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our counselors and let us help you overcome this challenge through our custom treatment plans.