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What is a dual diagnosis facility?

Co-occurring disorders, also referred to as dual diagnosis, is a term used when you have both a mental health disorder—such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder—and a drug or alcohol problem. Both the mental health issue and the addiction have their own unique symptoms that may get in the way of your ability to function, handle life’s difficulties, and relate to others.

Complicating the situation, the two problems affect each other and interact. When a mental health problem goes untreated, the substance abuse problem usually gets worse as well.  The problem worsens because one will attempt to self medicate their mental health issue with drugs and or alcohol.  And when alcohol or drug abuse increases, mental health problems usually increase too.

Recovery depends on treating both the addiction and the mental health problem.

Whether your mental health or substance abuse problem came first, recovery depends on treating both illnesses. The good news is that most people suffering from co-occurring addiction and mental health problems are able to recover, given proper treatment and support.  Please call today to discuss possible options for treatment, we are here when you are ready.

Manic Depression

Living with manic depression can be debilitating.  The disorder, also referred to as bipolar disorder or bipolar depression, is characterized by marked and unpredictable mood swings. A manic depressive is subject to dizzying highs and crushing lows, and will generally do anything he or she can to achieve emotional stability. Often times the symptoms of bipolar disorder are so devastating that the only relief one can obtain is to self-medicate with drugs and or alcohol.  This is one of the reasons why drug treatment can only be successful it includes comprehensive psychological therapy.

If you or someone you care about is a manic-depressive with a drug problem, you need addiction treatment that addresses both issues. In fact, a rehab program, which fails to account for a patient’s manic depression, is necessarily doomed to fail. The practical implication, then, is that you have to research you options before choosing a rehab center. The place that’s right for you is the one that can give you all the care you need. For your own sake, for the sake of the people who care about…. don’t settle for anything less.

Bipolar Depression

Bipolar depression, also called bipolar disorder or manic depression, can be a devastating disorder. To be a victim of bipolar disorder is to be trapped between two distinct and debilitating psychological states. On the one hand, bipolar depressives are subject to the withering lows commonly associated with classical clinical depression. On the other, they’re prone to bouts of sustained mania, characterized by both physiological and cognitive agitation. It is obviously not the kind of life anyone would want to live. And that’s why so many bipolar depressives resort to drug and alcohol abuse.

Drugs and alcohol can mitigate the highs and lows of bipolar depression. The only catch, of course, is that they’re an inherently self-destructive solution to the problem. Bipolar depressives who’ve fallen victim to drug and alcohol abuse, then, need two kinds of help, the first to address their substance habits and the second to address their psychiatric states. Only with such dual diagnosis and holistic care can bipolar depression and addicts expect to get sober for good. Anything less simply will not give the long-term relief needed.