Essay On Dual Diagnosis

Substance abuse along with mental illness is very complex and treating people who suffer from both is very complicated. It is estimated that one third of people with mental illness and one half of people with severe mental illness experience substance abuse. While more than a third of those who abuse alcohol and half of drug abusers battle mental illness as well. Many times substances are used as a form of self-medication that unfortunately doesn’t treat the underlying issues and gives temporary feelings of euphoria. These substances actually worsen the underlying issues. In some cases drugs and alcohol can cause an onset of mental illness symptoms.("Dual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness,"

The key benefit of a treatment program is that treatment can be provided in a safe and caring environment, taking care of the social, psychological, and medicinal needs of an individual. Therapists and psychologists work on different areas of the addict for an effective drug treatment that improves self esteem, self worth, relationships, friendships, and eliminates criminal behavior.

What is Dual Diagnosis? Research has come close to answering what is dual diagnosis and how it pertains to individuals experiencing both substance abuse/dependence and severe and persistent mental illnesses (Drake, 2007). One significant aspect of dual diagnosis before examining it more closely is that on the information that we already know that pertains to dual diagnosis (Drake, 2007). After we can gather the general knowledge and the current information of dual diagnosis the next significant aspect is how we can approach dual diagnosis when it relates to individuals (Drake, 2007). Lastly as soon as we can develop an approach to helping individuals the next step is to create testing when research is done on dual diagnosis to

One study that was reported in twenty-fifteen examined two aspects of dual diagnosed adults 1). The incidence of dual diagnosis and substance abuse disorder among inpatients in Israel, and 2). The demographic and clinical correlates of DD adults (Ponizovsky, 2015).

For example, interactive sculpting, massage services, interactive cooking classes and fitness classes are just a few of the decidedly unique ways this center approaches recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. This center specializes in holistic therapy, which is designed to treat the whole person, not just their addiction. They also utilize groundbreaking cognitive behavioral therapy to discover the thoughts and emotions that correlate with an addiction. Solutions Recovery also provides medical detoxification services and outpatient treatment options.

Dual diagnosis will almost consist of three prevalent characteristics such as substance abuse, several metal illnesses and proper treatment (Drake, 2007). In addition, dual diagnosis also allows clients and doctors to discover further new knowledge specifically of dual diagnosis such as the most exposed to different individuals who are dual diagnosed the better treatment the doctor can provide (Werner & Stawski, 2012). Furthermore the more knowledgeable the doctors are at treating individuals whom are dual diagnosed the better they are to provide their clients with the eight to nine stages (depending on the individual) of change (Miller & Rollnick, 2002). However, with all of this new knowledge, there are issues that pertain to dual diagnosis, which is that having a typecast on the individuals will cause the doctor to provide worse treatment as if they didn’t have an opinion of those clients (Werner, 2012). In addition, there must be work done on treating children who are dual diagnosed since many doctors don’t even know that children can be dual diagnosed and treated just like adults (Jamie & Knowlton, 2007). Therefore, in the spectrum of dual diagnosis, there are endless amount of information to help us to become more knowledgeable but it is not until we are attaining firsthand experience that we can fully be able to help in dual

Recent evidence suggests that amongst mental health and substance misuse service users (dual diagnosis) there have been increased cases of violent and aggressive behaviour. Crome et al. (2009) maintain that dual diagnosis, service users present with challenging behaviour. Schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, autism, Asperger's, personality and mood disorder are some of the mental health problems exhibited by the patients within a dual diagnosis unit. Erkiran et al. (2006), Hoaken and Stewart (2003) and O’Hare et al. (2004) indicated that the continued use of substance increase challenging behaviour presented by dual diagnosis, service users. Banerjee et al. (2002) maintain that agitation, violent and aggressive actions are some of the problems that dual diagnosis, service users will present with.

Two of the ten studies investigate medications and the effectiveness on the outcome of the individuals studied. Green, Noordsy, Brunette, and O'Keefe (2008) studied theories related to schizophrenia and substance abuse. The authors discuss a number of theories that attempt to explain how the two are related. Although their study was not clear, the authors continue to recommend comprehensive treatment that includes psychosocial and medication treatment in an integrated fashion (Green et al.,

Medically advancements of past few decades have ushered in a handful of drug treatment medications. While other disorders have been treated with medication as alcoholism, opioid and opiate (namely painkillers and heroin) addiction is the one most often treated with these medications.

Currently in the United States there are many people suffering with dual disorders. When determining an effective treatment facility there are four key factors which include: assessment process and treatment planning, critical treatment components, staffing patterns, and treatment goals for coexisted disorders. In California, there is a residential treatment program known as The Clearing that specializes with dual disorders. During an interview with Betsy from The Clearing Treatment Program she discussed primary components of the program and aftercare program, managing clients with dual disorders and the most common dual disorder presented at this facility, barriers, and resources. The Clearing Treatment Program has effectively and ineffectively addressed the needs of individuals with coexisting disorders.

The two main categories of drug addiction treatment include behavioral and pharmacological. Behavioral treatments teach people how to function without drugs such as handling cravings, avoiding drugs and situations that could lead to drug use, and preventing and handling relapses. Behavioral treatments such as individual counseling, group or family counseling, contingency management, and cognitive-behavioral therapies can aid patients in improving their personal relationships and seeing an increase in their ability to function at work and within their community. In treatment, the drug abuser is taught to break old patterns of thinking and behaving and to learn new skills for avoiding drug use and criminal behavior. Individuals with severe drug problems and co-occurring disorders typically need longer treatment and more comprehensive services. Early in treatment, the drug abuser begins a therapeutic process of change. In later stages, he or she addresses other problems related to drug abuse and learns how to manage them as

Most of the rehabilitation treatment centers have variety of different therapies. These include the family therapy, behavioral therapy as well as music and art therapy. You must always keep in mind that each individual is unique with unique needs and hence a standard treatment plan will not be successful in all cases. Each person has some underlying issues that have pushed the person into substance abuse and these issues need to be addressed.

The resulting behaviors weaken the person’s ability to control impulses, disregarding the negative consequences (National Institute on Drug Abuse 2). It happens quite frequently that one with a drug addiction has a co-occurring mental illness because often times, one will lead to the other. Many people who are addicted to drugs are also diagnosed with a mental disorder or vice versa. For example, compared with the general population, people with severe mental illnesses were approximately “four times more likely to be heavy alcohol users, 3.5 times more likely to use marijuana regularly and 4.6 times more likely to use other drugs at least ten different times in their lifetime” (National Institutes of Health 7). In addition, people who have a drug addiction are about two times as likely to suffer from a mood or an anxiety disorder (National Institute on Drug Abuse 3). It is clear that drug abuse may show symptoms of mental illnesses. In reverse, mental disorders can lead to drug abuse, commonly as a means of “self-medication.” Drug abuse is a mental illness in itself, and many times it is a sign of additional underlying mental

Dual diagnosis is a term used to define the client who experiences a mental illness and a substance abuse problem at the same time (NAMI, 2015). Since dual diagnosis covers broad categories the illness may range from mild depression, bipolar, schzipheria, or post-traumatic stress disorder (NAMI, 2015). Whereas, when a person who is expressing severe depression episode in their life they may look for a substance that can be obtained to feel better.

This section will provide the rationale of the methods employed and highlight how the study will be performed. The study will examine the dual diagnosis service users with the sample size identified, data collection method and its analysis will be offered.