What is Dual Diagnosis Treatment?
Dual diagnosis treatment is still a very new discovery in the field of drug addiction recovery as compared to other more traditional treatment options. As the name itself suggest this particular innovation offers dual treatment for both mental illness as well drug addiction. This particular treatment came into being in the early 1990’s. Before that people who sought addiction recovery programs were often treated separately from patients suffering from mental or psychological disorder like depression, anxiety attack or other type of delusional behavior. However, problem began to arise when these two very critical conditions were seen in single patient and he was denied the proper treatment before he got clean or sober. This is was a very unfortunate as well as dangerous situation because it meant that serious patients with who were diagnosed with a mental disorder as well as dual diagnosis addiction never got the help they desperately needed.
This is where dual diagnosis treatment came into being. Addiction treatment offers patients suffering from a drug addiction as well as mental disorder a perfect blend of the most successful drug addiction treatment and mental health care.
Who qualifies for Dual Diagnosis Treatment?
In order to qualify for the Dual Diagnosis Treatment you need to meet the criteria defined by the current version of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM (published by the American Psychiatric Association) for an addictive disorder like prescription drug addiction, alcoholism or other behavioral addiction and for a mental health disorder like depression, anxiety attacks, schizophrenia or other type of personality disorder.
What does Dual Diagnosis Treatment involves?
An effective dual diagnosis treatment will actively involve a patient’s addiction as well as mental illness as he goes through his drug addiction recovery. In this treatment program there is no one set process that is followed as the range of mental illness as well as addictive disorders is extensive and varies from person to person. The treatment process is usually selected after a thorough examination of the patient.