Dual Diagnosis Treatment in Atascocita, TX

One out of two addicts, however, experience complex dual diagnosis conditions — they suffer from a psychiatric disorder as well as an addiction. Most addiction rehab centers are only equipped to treat simple addictions. At our rehab center for dual diagnosis treatment in Atascocita, one of the few evidence-based centers in the region, we understand the struggles that addicts go through locating treatment that works for them.

Most addicts who present with multiple disorders make the mistake of approaching a rehab that is not adequately equipped. They receive treatment for their addiction alone, and leave with their mental disorder untreated. Unfortunately, the mental disorder reasserts itself before long, and pushes them back into addictive behavior.

At many rehabs and at clinics of mental health practitioners, patients with such needs are simply refused treatment. The psychiatrist may tell them that they cannot be treated unless they have their addiction seen about first; the rehab however, either tells them to treat their psychiatric disorder first, or ignores it.

Dual Diagnosis Addiction Treatment

Addictions and mental health disorders interconnect in many ways. A person experiencing bipolar disorder, for example, may turn to alcohol to tame the highs and cocaine to correct the lows. When treatment is offered for these addictions alone, the bipolar disorder will only reassert itself, causing the patient to return to old ways to help with his problem.

It's no different with anxiety or schizophrenia. Those with anxiety disorder may turn to overuse of benzodiazepines to help tame their symptoms, and those with schizophrenia may turn to alcohol to help calm their minds. With the addiction alone treated in these cases, these patients will have no alternative but to simply turn to substance abuse again to help gain some form of control over their problem.

Dual diagnosis for addiction recommends treatment of both conditions by the rehab. This approach has been the scientifically recommended treatment for more than two decades now. Unfortunately, it is yet to see widespread adoption. Most rehabs do not possess the expertise.

When rehabs do offer dual diagnosis for addiction treatment, it is often an older, ineffective version: the rehab center does offer both psychiatric treatment and addiction treatment, but the psychiatrist and addiction specialist offering these treatments do not work together. They never compare notes. The result is frequent failure and finger-pointing by each side. No one knows where the buck stops.

The Answer Is Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment

At our drug and alcohol rehab for dual diagnosis treatment in Atascocita, we offer the integrated approach. It comes with a number of advantages over the standard approach of treatment, where the psychiatrist and addiction specialist concerned do not speak to one another.

In non-integrated dual diagnosis treatment programs, rehabs follow a rigid model; unfortunately, dual diagnosis conditions tend to be highly complex, and need fluid or flexible models. As an example, treatment programs in Atascocita work around addicts who are often unwilling to take the steps necessary to get better. A cocaine addict who hears voices, for instance, may not be willing to give up cocaine in order to begin treatment.

In this case, we work with the patient, offer psychiatric treatment that can be taken alongside of a cocaine habit, calm down the voices and other symptoms of the mental disorder, and then reason with him to quit cocaine.

In some cases, dual diagnosis patients may be a suicide risk, or may be violent. When our addiction specialists work together with our psychiatrists, they point these risks out to each other, and make sure that the patient receives psychiatric medication that helps calm him down. Since both specialists work together, they can make sure that the drugs used do not conflict with one another and ensure relapse prevention in Atascocita.

It is no small detail, either, that our support staff are trained in the handling of patients with multiple disorders. Such training can be very important when it comes to offering moral and emotional support to the patient.

Finding a good, integrated dual diagnosis treatment center can be hard for the simple reason that the treatment options necessary are hard to provide. It's important for patients to put in some research. You can speak with our experts at our center for dual diagnosis treatment in Atascocita for help with answers to questions you may have (877) 804-1531.