What Does a Dual Diagnosis Program Include?

Individuals who have both, an addiction to substance and an associated mental illness, need special treatment. They suffer from dual diagnosis and present a challenge to healthcare practitioners. Their treatment also takes time longer than that of other addicts suffering only from substance addiction. They need great care because they are more prone to relapse to their addiction even during withdrawal because of the overlapping symptoms of mental instability.

Enrolling them into a dual diagnosis program is the best and most successful approach for treating them. Such a program is dedicated to treating both substance addiction as well as psychiatric issue simultaneously at one place. However, there are numerous facilities that offer separate detox and rehab treatment programs to the patients.

Most of the times, it’s very difficult to treat dual diagnosis patients and it may take somewhere around a year or more to ensure complete recovery. However, there are numerous facilities that offer separate detox and rehab treatment programs to the patients. The reason is that it is difficult to convince them to take medications and co-operate with the doctors because of their co-occurring mental disorder. Along with medications, they also need counseling simultaneously, so that they can be treated well.

The treatment process at dual diagnosis treatment facilities include:

• Analysis of Psychiatric Health: This is the first stage that helps medical experts understand the true mental situation of a patient. This also helps them identify the mental disorder they suffer from. Medication may or may not be prescribed at this stage. However, patients are counseled by psychiatric professionals.
• Assessment of Physical Health: This is done to identify the level of addiction and severity of symptoms in patients, so that they are prescribed an appropriate treatment for their condition. It is really important to understand whether the addiction is mental of physical. If it is a physical addiction, as in, their body is dependent on substance; it means they are at the most advanced stage of addiction.
• Detoxification: Detoxification means the process the cleansing the body from toxins and harmful chemicals. It is the initial stage of the treatment program where patients are given the doses of medicines at regular intervals on daily basis until they completely detoxify.
• Behavioral Modification Therapy: This is done simultaneously to help patients learn to cope with their urge to drink or consume drugs. Besides they are taught new methods of how to avoid the triggers that they may come across during and after recovery. During their stay in a rehab facility, they learn to master the art of saying no to the substance and cope with their mental illness.
• Relapse Prevention Counseling: This is an aftercare program that provides a support structure to patients even after leaving the facility. This is the last yet most important stage in a dual diagnosis program towards ensuring permanent recovery.

There are numerous dual diagnosis treatment facilities in the United States. You need to really careful in finding the one that offers personalized treatment, depending upon your needs.