Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center

What is a Dual Diagnosis Disorder and How Does it Relate to Substance Abuse

According to the government, a dual diagnosis is a disorder that occurs when a person suffers from both a mental disorder and an alcohol or drug addiction. Addicted individuals may be suffering, often without knowing, from depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. Over time, the lack of treatment for one can exacerbate the other.

Before addressing either problem, the use of mind-altering substances must be discontinued so that the psychological disorder can be correctly identified. Of course, detoxification in such situations should be monitored and take place within a licensed dual diagnosis facility, enabling doctors, nurses, and therapists to carefully control physical and psychiatric withdrawal symptoms. At Lakeview Health Systems, our medical staff is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They are ready to handle whatever changes in a patient’s condition occur during drug and alcohol detox and treatment.

After years of untreated mental disorders and drug and alcohol abuse, it is not immediately obvious which problem is the underlying cause. Thus, if a patient suffers from manic highs and lows, it may initially be difficult to identify the cause as drug abuse or a manic-depressive mood disorder. Life events that surround drug and alcohol abuse often lead to a psychiatric condition, or an untreated psychiatric condition can lead to a substance abuse problem. Treatment for both disorders (dual diagnosis treatment) is then necessary.

In the past, drug abuse or alcohol addiction and mental disorders were treated separately. If a person suffering from major depression was only treated for substance addiction, the real cause was not addressed. The likelihood of that person using again increased. But after 20 years of research and development, best practices show that dual diagnosis treatment is most effective when a combined mental health and substance abuse intervention is employed and treatment is customized for each client.

Dual Diagnosis Detoxification

Lakeview Health Systems has a state-of-the-art detoxification facility manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We are emphatic about providing the best possible care for all patients. Therefore, we closely monitor  the progress of patients detoxing in our drug and alcohol medical facility. Close observation of a patient’s physical and mental conditions allows our staff to make a “confirmative” diagnosis. Unfortunately, patients that go through outpatient treatment will not receive close observation and identification of behaviors that occur outside of the therapeutic environment; minor and sometimes major symptoms can go undetected. Receiving medication to stabilize mood swings and/ or to control substance abuse cravings will not alter the dynamic between the co-occurring conditions.

Our multidisciplinary treatment approach to substance abuse detoxification and treatment enables the monitoring team to establish an appropriate, evolving detoxification treatment plan leading to a recovery treatment plan.

Physical and psychological assessments are made daily. Rebound effects can be handled immediately, thereby increasing the chances that the patient’s physical condition and mental disorders will be manageable.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

We are one of the few true dual diagnosis treatment centers in the nation.

Because of our multidisciplinary approach, our treatment programs are custom designed to fit every patient’s needs, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. Governmental studies have found repeatedly that an effective recovery treatment and aftercare plan reduces the risk of additional problems arising, such as increased symptoms, re-hospitalizations, additional legal and financial problems, homelessness, suicide, violence, sexual and physical victimization, incarceration, or the development or worsening of serious illness.

Lakeview Health Systems understands the need for ongoing treatment and has structured its dual diagnosis programs so that:

• All treatments are customized
• Treatment approaches aid patients’ ability to take control of their life
• They provide patients with the tools to avoid relapse

Once a person suffering from dual diagnosis disorder moves from substance abuse detoxification to drug and alcohol treatment, he or she learns to acknowledge the nature of the disorder, and understand and accept the disorder through:

• Specialized dual diagnosis discussion groups
• Special therapy groups: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), Experiential Therapy (ET), and Psycho Drama
• Individual counseling
• Medication management
• 12-step workshops
• Optional spiritual workshops
• Dietary consultations
• Recreational therapies
• Relapse prevention
• Aftercare plans

A thorough aftercare plan will be developed to help ensure continued recovery once a patient is released from rehabilitation. Lakeview Health Systems provides anyone suffering from dual diagnosis disorder with hope, knowledge, skills, and the support to maintain sobriety and mental health, thus allowing the patient to pursue the life previously only dreamed about with dignity and courage

Maintaining Psychiatric Treatment

As stated above, it is of the greatest importance that all co-occurring conditions be treated simultaneously.

The tendency for a patient to begin to feel better and stop taking his or her medication, coupled with continuing life stressers, can send the patient into a downward spiral to relapse. Self-medicating worsens both the mental and physical disorders and abuse begins again.

More information about specific disorders and treatments:

• Anxiety Disorders – Constant or abnormal levels of fear and anxiety (includes OCD)
• Bipolar Disorder – Mood swings between very “low” and very “high” feelings
• Depression – Overwhelming sad feelings, low energy, and lack of interest in activities
• Personality Disorders – Impulsive behavior, hostility, and need for attention are some characteristics of this variety of disorders
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Social Phobia