Many people who struggle with addiction also have another mental or behavioral health issue. We call this a “dual diagnosis.” For example, someone may suffer from alcoholism and depression at the same time.
Trying to treat just the addiction or just the mental health issue often fails. The two problems are interconnected and need to be treated together through an integrated treatment plan.
Almost half of people with addiction have a co-occurring mental health disorder, according to a national survey. This shows how common dual diagnosis cases are.
Special recovery centers focus on treating both the substance abuse and the mental health condition simultaneously. They understand that you can’t fully overcome one issue without addressing the other.
Dual diagnosis is very challenging, but these specialized treatment programs are designed to provide comprehensive care for the interconnected disorders. If either the addiction or the mental health issue gets treated alone, the untreated problem often leads to a relapse.
If you or a loved one may have a dual diagnosis, you can get a free assessment to evaluate both the addiction and any co-occurring mental health conditions. This comprehensive assessment is the first step toward an integrated treatment plan.
Dual diagnosis treatment refers to an individual suffering from a “comorbid” disorder, such as depression and alcoholism, anxiety and drug addiction, or bipolar disorder and opiate abuse (for example). Dual diagnosis is quite challenging to overcome, so treatment programs like Virtue Recovery Center specialize in treating both substance abuse and mental health. Treating either condition without the other inevitably results in relapse. You can get a
free dual diagnosis assessment done at Virtue Recovery Center.