Substance abuse is often only a surface (or front facing) result of a much deeper underlying issue. Everything from past trauma to other mental health issues are generally the true cause of an individual’s pain and suffering, which is what led them to substance abuse in the first place.

What Is Dual Diagnosis?

It is extremely common for patients that are dealing with and working through their substance abuse issues, to simultaneous be struggling with a series of other behavioral health disorders. This is known as dual diagnosis. Individuals with a dual diagnosis require an integrated treatment plan that addresses both their substance abuse and underlying mental health or behavioral disorders. These are some of the most common mental health disorders linked to substance abuse:

  • Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
    A common mistake that lays the groundwork for substance abuse with people suffering from ADHD is the prescribing of stimulants to treat the ADHD. Doing this can be habit-forming and can sometimes lead to substance abuse.
  • Bipolar disorder
    Believe it or not, roughly half of the people struggling with bipolar disorder, also struggle with addiction.
  • Borderline personality disorder
    Two-thirds of people with borderline personality disorder have abused substances at some point in their lives.
  • Depression
    Far too many people suffering from diagnosed and undiagnosed depression try to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. This undoubtably makes the problem worse – both because it only serves to mask the underlying depression, and because the crash after the high can be harsh.
  • Eating disorders
    People with eating disorders often use drugs to suppress their appetite, and that continued use ultimately leads to dependency of that substance or something must more intense.
  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
    People who suffer from generalized anxiety disorder often use drugs to manage their sometimes-overwhelming symptoms.
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
    Obsessive compulsive disorder is extremely common. Many people have this condition and never even realize it. Something else people with OCD often never realize, is that they also sometime suffer from anxiety and depression. The highs and lows associated with can oftentimes lead to substance abuse.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
    Post-traumatic stress disorder prevents the brain’s ability to produce endorphins. Endorphins make you feel happy. So, in turn, patients suffering from PTSD tend to utilize alcohol or drugs to simulate the feeling of happiness.
  • Schizophrenia
    Schizophrenia creates hallucinations and delusional thinking. Oftentimes, schizophrenia can have effects that overlap with substance abuse, so it can be hard for clinicians to diagnose schizophrenia.

Who & What Is Involved With The Integrated Treatment?

 Our integrated treatment program allows individuals to concurrently receive medical attention, therapeutic intervention, and supportive care for other disorders. This is a hyper-sensitive, deeply intimate approach to treatment that allows our team of expert Nurse Practitioners, therapists, psychologists, counselors, and other clinicians to better assess and manage symptoms of behavioral health disorder, while still adequately addressing the other aspects of the patient’s substance abuse treatment plan.

What Does The Integrated Treatment Process Involve?

Our comprehensive integrated care begins immediately after detox. Our priority is to get the patient to a place and condition physically, that will allow our team to conduct a proper assessment of the patient, in a state that is in no way inhibited by alcohol or drugs.

The next step is to setup a treatment plan and begin administering the treatment and care that is deemed most effective based on evidence-based approaches. This is the level of care that will then continue through to aftercare treatment and support. Studies have proven this process of immediately addressing the underlying health disorder, and then working with the patient in a more stable state, promotes greater chances of positive outcomes for clients.