Dual Diagnosis Treatment and Drug Addiction
Dual Diagnosis Help
There’s been much debate in both mental health and drug addiction treatment services about how best to help people with mental health problems, who use illicit drugs and alcohol. They have, traditionally, been regarded as difficult to treat, unresponsive and chaotic, and many workers feel less than confident about caring for such clients. The usual drug addiction treatment strategies for drug and psychiatric problems are not always effective for patients with dual diagnosis, for a variety of reasons.
Substance misuse services and mental health services have very different philosophies and therapies, and these are reflected in their approach both to the problems they deal with and to training. To be effective the drug addiction treatment staff must have experience in each other’s fields of treatment. People who work in the drug addiction treatment field often have personal experience of drug use. This knowledge and their ability to identify with patients can be extremely important in the drug addiction treatment process. But they often have limited expertise or experience in recognizing and working with drug users who have mental health problems.
Drug users who have mental health problems have often been excluded from mental health care. This is because staff in psychiatric units assumes that the main problem is the drug addiction. This can mean the person receives no help, while drug services and mental health services argue about which is the primary problem, and who should therefore have responsibility for the patient. The reality is that it’s not essential to establish, at the start, which problem is primary, as long as the person receives the necessary help. The situation is beginning to change with current guidance, and mental health services have started to accept that they are often the first and most appropriate port of call for people with this combination of problems, especially if they are diagnosed with a psychotic illness.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment Approaches
There are a number of dual diagnosis treatment approaches that have benefited people with a dual diagnosis. There is a form of cognitive behavior therapy called motivational interviewing, which has been used successfully. It can help those with drug addiction problems to make changes to their drug-using patterns, and create new social networks in which drug use is controlled. Family therapy and 12-step approaches to drug and alcohol use (as used by organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous) may be helpful in some cases. Counseling, in its various forms, can also help people in need of dual diagnosis treatment. It provides a safe environment in which both drug use and mental health problems can be explored. (For more information about dual diagnosis treatment, you can go to www.lakeviewhealth.com.
In some instances, drug treatment can be of assistance. A quality dual diagnosis treatment center will always explore the need for medication to assist in managing the psychiatric illness associated with the dual diagnosis disorder. To locate a dual diagnosis treatment center which can meet your specific treatment needs you can call the dual diagnosis helpline at 1-800-511-9225. The dual diagnosis helpline is toll free and there is no charge associated with its services. The helpline is staffed 24/7, for you.


























