Substance abuse disorders often have an underlying cause. Here’s how a dual diagnosis treatment center can help you improve your quality of life and have the best success in treatment. By digging into the root cause of your addiction, you can experience five important benefits.
What Is a Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center?
A dual diagnosis treatment center is a mental health center where you are treated for both addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. For example, you might have an alcohol addiction and depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Another example would be drug abuse and anxiety.
Integrates Addiction and Mental Health Services
In the past, addictions and mental health disorders were treated separately. In fact, treatment centers would not even begin mental health treatment until you had been sober for a significant period of time. Now, though, dual diagnosis treatment centers recognize that if you have both an addiction and a mental health problem, you need help for both at the same time.
What Is Typically Included in Dual Diagnosis Treatment?
Dual diagnosis treatment may include detox, where the staff watches over you as you suffer through the physical and emotional stress of first getting off a drug or alcohol. Next, you may receive help through medications, psychotherapy, group therapy and activities, skills training, and other interventions that address both the mental disorder and the addiction together. Finally, discharge planning helps you prepare for sobriety and mental health after leaving the dual diagnosis treatment center.
Five Benefits of Choosing a Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center
Many people with addictions also have a mental illness, even if they don’t realize it right away. You may need treatment for both conditions, and you can get it at a dual diagnosis treatment center. Here are five benefits you may experience.
1. Integrated Treatment for Addiction and Mental Health
By treating both a substance use disorder and other mental health disorders together, you have a greater chance of success. After all, it is very difficult to quit drugs or alcohol if you are struggling with a mental disorder as well.
Forcing people to get sober before they have access to mental health treatment often denies them the chance to improve their conditions. A dual diagnosis treatment center doesn’t demand that. Thus, when you get simultaneous treatment for both disorders, you don’t have to wait for sobriety, which may be impossible for you to accomplish first.
In addition, by integrating the addiction and mental health treatments, you get a unique blend of care in which neither condition is exacerbated by the treatment for the other condition. The mental health and substance abuse experts take into account how each treatment will affect both your addiction and your mental disorder.
What’s more, a dual diagnosis treatment center is focused on providing this type of integrated treatment, so many others in the facility are receiving the same type of dual diagnosis treatment. Therefore, you don’t feel alone, neglected, or singled out.
2. Diagnosis of Underlying Causes of Addiction
You might come into a dual diagnosis treatment center with only a vague idea that you have mental health issues. If you were to go to a facility that only treated addiction, they might not pay attention to mental health problems much.
However, in a dual diagnosis center, the doctors can diagnose any mental disorders you have. This provides both you and them with the information they need to treat you as a whole person with both types of challenges.
3. Medical and Mental Health Professionals Trained to Deal with Dual Diagnosis
One of the best features of a dual diagnosis treatment center is the proficiency of the staff in treating both addiction and mental health disorders. Not only the doctors but also the nurses, psychotherapists, and the rest of the staff understand your issues better because they deal with dual diagnosis patients every day.
The mental health professionals can provide you with medications that work for people who have both addiction and your specific mental disorder. The therapists can address both issues and the way they combine to make your life more difficult. You get the complete package of therapies for addiction, mental health issues, and the problems that arise because you have both.
4. Safety From Physical and Mental Harm During Detox
Detox can be agonizing and hard on your body and brain, even with the best of care. However, if you have an addiction and a mental disorder, the short-term threat to your safety may be compounded. Prescribing the right medications to help you through the medically supervised detox period becomes more complicated when you have a mental disorder, too. Fortunately, if you are in a
dual diagnosis treatment center, the doctors know how to keep you safe from harm, not only by giving you the right medications but by being mindful of your mental disorders.
5. Help Preparing for Life After Leaving the Dual Diagnosis Center
An ordinary mental health facility typically has its staff do some discharge planning to prepare their clients for the time they go back home. However, if you choose a dual diagnosis treatment center, your discharge planning will cover much more territory. It will be designed not only to help you deal with your mental health issues but also to help you set yourself up to avoid going back to your addiction and the environments and triggers that make it more challenging.
FAQ
1. What is a dual diagnosis treatment center?
A dual diagnosis treatment center is a facility that specializes in treating individuals who have both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder. These centers provide integrated care that addresses both conditions simultaneously.
2. Why is it beneficial to treat both addiction and mental health issues together?
Treating both conditions together is beneficial because they often influence each other. Addressing both issues simultaneously can lead to more comprehensive and effective treatment, reducing the risk of relapse and improving overall outcomes.
3. How does a dual diagnosis treatment center provide comprehensive care?
Dual diagnosis treatment centers provide comprehensive care by offering a combination of therapies and medical treatments designed to address both mental health disorders and substance use disorders. This integrated approach ensures that all aspects of a patient’s health are considered and treated.
4. What types of therapies are used in dual diagnosis treatment centers?
Therapies used in dual diagnosis treatment centers often include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), individual and group counseling, medication management, and holistic therapies such as mindfulness and art therapy.
5. Can dual diagnosis treatment centers help prevent relapse?
Yes, dual diagnosis treatment centers can help prevent relapse by addressing the underlying mental health issues that may contribute to substance use. By treating both the addiction and the mental health disorder, these centers provide patients with tools and strategies to maintain long-term recovery.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment at Ridgeview Behavioral Hospital
More than anything, patients need to know that they will receive the best possible care. It’s important to remember that the care you need today may be different from the care you need tomorrow. There are many types of therapy available at Ridgeview Behavioral Hospital, so reach out if you need assistance in the Middle Point, Ohio area.
Call (419) 949-8590 to speak with one of our treatment specialists and learn more about our programs. Take our 😍 Mental Health Assessment or our 🧐 Addiction Test.
