Dual Diagnosis

Dual Diagnosis can help treat the disorder and the addiction.

Dual Diagnosis is a condition wherein a person has mental disorder as well as an alcohol problem. This is a condition that occurs very often, particularly with depression, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, Schizophrenia. Many times, the onset of Dual Diagnosis begins with the mental problems and to cope up with it, people use drugs or alcohol to feel good, at least temporary.

A person with dual diagnosis should get the appropriate treatment for both the conditions to get well soon. Firstly, the person is advised to stop using the drugs or alcohol that he is taking to feel better temporary. The next step is the rehabilitation step for the treatment of the mental disorder. This includes the use of medicines, group support and talk therapy. In Dual Diagnosis, there is help and hope. The alcohol problems and mood disorders both are treatable conditions.

An individual experiences Dual Diagnosis when he is affected emotional illness and chemical dependency. Both these conditions affect an individual socially, physically, psychologically and spiritually. Dual Diagnosis is also referred to as co-occurring illness, concurrent disorders, co-morbidity, etc.

The person has to face to two different but interrelated conditions in a Dual Diagnosis. These conditions include a psychiatric diagnosis and a substance abuse diagnosis including drugs and alcohol. Dual Diagnosis is not only of any one type. This is so because there are different types of psychiatric illness. Also there are many forms of alcohol abuse. Thus, there are possibilities of different forms of Dual Diagnosis.