Dual Diagnosis Treatment in Rockwall, TX

At a program for dual diagnosis treatment in Rockwall, addicts and alcoholics benefit from treatment for their mental disorder.

Before the inception of dual diagnosis treatment programs in the 1990's, patients who were suffering from co-existing disorders were often shuffled between medical and mental health disciplines that simply did not know exactly what to do with them.

Since a person can develop either an addiction or an additional mental disorder first, there was no way to say which should be the primary care area when it came to those who were unfortunate enough to have a dual diagnosis for addiction, meaning they were an addict and had another mental illness as well. Not knowing what to do with such patients often meant they fell into one of two categories.

Either they would be treated by one medical discipline on day one and sent to another discipline on day two or else they were cared for in one area and not in the other at all.

The fact that they have co-occurring mental illnesses must be the primary key to their care, not either of their individual disorders. From there, people who enter a dual diagnosis treatment programs in Rockwall can have not only their addiction and other mental illness assessed properly but their overall health can be evaluated, too.

By doing such a thorough job of analyzing a patient's needs, the fact that they have a dual diagnosis for addiction becomes much less of a stumbling block with regards to their care. This doesn't negate the complexity of the situation for anyone who has a dual diagnosis treatment in Rockwall, however, both they, their families, and everyone who treats them can be on the same page as to how their multiple disorders can and should be addresses.

What Is Dual Diagnosis?

As referred to above, dual diagnosis for addiction is the result of medical professionals establishing the fact that an individual patient is suffering from both addiction and another mental disorder. To the uninitiated, this might seem like the person got a very bad deal, not having to work through the problems of one mental illness, but instead two.

The condition is a lot more common than is publicized, as estimates say that as many as a third of people who suffer from addiction to drugs or alcohol also have another mental disorder, no matter how mild a case it may be. This is because although a person who needs to be treated through dual diagnosis treatment programs has two distinct disorders, there is certainly an intertwining of symptoms and causality in most patients who are cared for at a facility for dual diagnosis treatment in Rockwall.

On the mental health side (as opposed to more traditional alcohol or drug rehab in Rockwall), knowing that a person with particular mental illnesses could be susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol is something that mental health specialists are aware of and can be on the lookout for as they care for their patients because there are reasons why addiction and dual diagnosis go together.

Dual Diagnosis and Addiction Cooperation

One of the biggest recent fears to come out of the world of drug abuse and addiction counseling and treatment is the use and abuse of prescription medications. The fact that a person can become addicted to pain medication even when they specifically follow their doctor's orders is worrying enough but self-medication, or determining on your own how much of a pain medication you need to take, is an easy way to become an addict. This goes true for people suffering from mental disorders as well.

A dual diagnosis for addiction can be the result of someone taking a prescription or street drug to dull, eliminate, or just forget about the symptoms of their mental illness. If this practice of self-medication seems to be working for them and they continue abusing the substance they have chosen, this can easily lead to addiction.

What Are Types of Mental Disorder?

Besides addiction, there are many mental disorders that can occur as part of a dual diagnosis and the specialist who provide care for patients in dual diagnosis treatment programs are trained to deal with any combination they encounter including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), depression, different types of anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and many other mild and severe cases of mental illness.

Again, the key to dual diagnosis treatment in Rockwall is understanding the overall picture of what each patient is facing. Call now for help (877) 804-1531.