Dual diagnosis and families
The lack of professional knowledge about dual diagnosis can be frustrating for those affected and their families. Common experiences may include:

• Health care providers may blame the client for being difficult and unresponsive to treatment, rather than questioning whether the health care system is failing to provide effective dual diagnosis treatment and support for people with dual diagnosis.
• If a dual diagnosis client first seeks addiction treatment for drug abuse, the drug and alcohol workers may consider their mental illness as a secondary issue or side effect. Similarly, if they first seek treatment for their mental illness, then the mental health professionals may also consider their drug abuse as a secondary issue or side effect. The two problems are often not seen as interdependent and equally important.
• Specialist and early intervention treatments are often not available for dual diagnosis.
• Health care professionals may not involve the family in dual diagnosis treatment, even though the family is frequently much more familiar with the problems and experiences of the person with dual diagnosis.

The future of dual diagnosis treatment
Alcohol rehab and drug rehab services and mental health services are developing ways in which to respond to people with a dual diagnosis. Integrated service delivery and collaborative treatment is becoming core business for most services.

Dual diagnosis treatment is now available in drug rehab programs and alcohol rehab programs throughout the United States. To locate a dual diagnosis treatment program call 1-800-511-9225, the dual diagnosis helpline or go to www.steppingstonecenter.com.

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Integrated dual diagnosis treatment can be difficult
Effective management of either substance use disorders or mental health disorders is challenging. Dual diagnosis can mean an increase in challenging behaviours including self-harm and aggression, avoidance of services, and resistance to or non-compliance with addiction treatment and recovery programs.

Research suggests that people with a dual diagnosis respond well to integrated drug rehab programs that address both their mental illness and their substance abuse. However, these drug rehab programs were uncommon until recent years. Some of the reasons for this include:

• Dual Diagnosis can be difficult, because it isn’t always clear which problem has the more severe symptoms. Health services are now becoming more able to recognize dual diagnosis.
• Mental health services are usually reserved for people with severe problems, so dual diagnosis clients with less severe mental health problems may not get treatment. They should, however, be referred to a suitable service.
• A person with a mental illness may receive treatment, but their drug use problem could be dismissed as a minor side effect of their illness.
• The number of workers trained in dual diagnosis treatment is slowly increasing. The services for mental health and substance abuse generally don’t overlap, so professionals in one field aren’t knowledgeable about the issues in the other field. It is hard to find professionals who are skilled in treating both substance abuse and mental illness.

If you are looking for a quality and effective dual diagnosis treatment program, go to www.steppingstonecenter.org or call the national dual diagnosis helpline at 1-800-511-9225. 

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