Dual diagnosis occurs when people who are suffering from drug or alcohol addiction show symptoms of emotional or psychiatric problems at the same time – hence the terms co-occurring disorders, co-morbidity, concurrent illnesses, and dual disorder that are also used to describe the condition.

Studies show that 37 percent of alcoholics and 53 percent of drug addicts have at least one co-occurring mental disorder. On the other hand, research shows that 29 percent of all mentally ill persons also have drug or alcohol problems. The mental or emotional illnesses that often co-occur with substance abuse problems are depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and other psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and personality disorders.

While a person’s substance addiction needs a particular treatment approach, it is very much interrelated with his psychiatric illness. Many dual diagnosis treatment centers recognize this interrelation between chemical dependencies and psychiatric disorders. Not only is an addict affected physically, socially, psychologically and spiritually by the two separate illnesses, both disorders may also aggravate each other.

In most cases when a dual diagnosis patient receives treatment for only one of their disorders, the untreated illness often causes the relapse of the previously treated condition. For example, a person who undergoes substance abuse rehab will most likely experience a relapse of his addiction if his mental illness is not properly treated. His depression or anxiety disorder may cause him to seek temporary relief from drugs or alcohol once again, which can eventually cause the recurrence of his addiction.

It is not easy to identify which illness developed first in a dual diagnosis patient. In most cases, it is the psychiatric problem that triggers drug or alcohol dependency. A person suffering from depression may seek “happiness” or that preppy feeling from drugs or alcohol. Likely, someone who is having an anxiety attack may turn to drugs and alcohol in his attempt to feel calmer.

These self-medication attempts by persons with emotional and mental problems usually lead to their physical or psychological dependency on harmful substances. Unfortunately, this can also trigger worse psychiatric disorders as the substance abuse progresses. The depression that first led a person’s alcohol or drug addiction can develop into severe and life-threatening psychiatric illnesses in the long run.

On the hand, there are people who become alcoholics or drug addicts first before developing a mental disorder. This happens when an addict’s dependency on harmful substances becomes too severe that it damages his brain and starts to trigger emotional and psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations, fits of rage, episodes of depression, and even suicidal tendencies.

In dual diagnosis treatment, it is said that both conditions of chemical dependency and psychiatric disorder should be treated simultaneously. However, most dual diagnosis treatment centers find it more important for a patient to undergo detox rehab or substance abuse withdrawal first, regardless of whether the primary problem is the addiction or the psychiatric illness.

Detox rehab is usually done under close medical supervision, and only after the patient has shown considerable withdrawal from his substance abuse do his physicians start to focus on treating his psychiatric condition. This is the common practice in most dual diagnosis treatment centers. However, there are also those who do have rehab programs that offer simultaneous treatment for both addiction and psychiatric illnesses in dual diagnosis patients.

If you would like more information about dual diagnosis therapy please contact Hawaii Island Recovery at 866-515-5032.

Filed under: Dual Diagnosis

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!