Dual Diagnosis Drug Treatment

Recognizing mental illness as a disease took years. Drug addiction, whether the drug is methamphetamine or alcohol, faces the same struggle, with the added burden of having people dismiss it as little more than a bad choice, speakers at Thursday night’s Recovery Town Hall Meeting told an audience of about 100. The meeting was at Polk Community College in Lakeland, Florida.
“Addiction is a disease,” said Bill Janes, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. “It’s chronic. It’s progressive. It’s predictable. … It is a disease that, without treatment, will result in serious consequences.”

Drug addicts often also have mental illness, a condition known as “co-occurring disorders, or dual diagnosis” but drug treatment programs for mental illness and drug addiction have a history of competing. That needs to change, Janes said, along with the secrecy surrounding both.
“We must talk about it,” he said, calling people with those disorders “vulnerable” and programs to help them at risk.

“In times of budget reduction, the most vulnerable become more vulnerable,” said Janes, who also is assistant secretary of substance abuse and mental health for the Florida Department of Children and Families.
One thing he wants to change is having one-third of his division’s budget spent on “deep end” services for the seriously and chronically mentally ill. He said more money needs to be put into earlier efforts such as crisis intervention, drop-in centers and clubhouses to help people with mental illnesses function in their communities.

The need for more funding can’t be ignored, said Mel Williams, who works with Tri-County Human Services’ jail programs to rehabilitate drug abusers. Graduates of that program and others have difficulty finding halfway houses to help them fit back into the community.

“If we do not do something to provide them with the help they need, they’re going to die or end up in prison for the rest of their lives,” Williams said. “We need more facilities to put people in when they finish a drug treatment program so they don’t go back to the same locations.”

Backing up those concerns, local panelists shared their experiences - as patients, family members or law enforcement officers - with lack of access to programs and education. But they also offered a ray of hope through what they learned in the process.

“I truly believe if I hadn’t gotten into a drug treatment program, I would be dead,” said a panelist who identified herself only as Denise. “Recovery has taken me out of the dark and brought me into the light. Without drug treatment, we’re going to see a lot more people dying.”

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Drug Addiction Treatment and Bipolar Disorder

For two decades, we have been treating drug treatment program participants with drug or alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder (sometimes referred to as bi-polar disorder or even manic depression). Bipolar disorder affects approximately 1% of the adult population and manifests itself with mood swings, often rapid and severe. It is an affective disorder, classified similarly to clinical depression. As an affective disorder, it carries the capability to emotionally cripple an individual. By itself, bipolar disorder is quite treatable with medication and therapy. When coupled with drug or alcohol addiction; however, it complicates the drug addiction treatment process and demands a knowledgeable and experienced drug treatment program such as Lakeview Health Systems.
Aside from getting an emotionally crippled addict or alcoholic into drug addiction treatment, the primary difficulty in treating addicts and alcoholics with bipolar disorder is determining which disorder is the underlying condition. Did the individual have bipolar disorder first and then start using, or did they develop bipolar disorder as a result of their substance abuse? In many cases, it is the latter and simply abstaining from drug use or alcohol consumption greatly reduces or even eliminates the symptoms and behaviors associated with bipolar disorder. Whatever the cause, it is not a good idea to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, as flooding the brain with substances will never lead to a desired outcome.

Lakeview’s drug addiction treatment approach heeds this lesson and treats the drug and/or alcohol use in a primary fashion. For those individuals who do not experience relief from bipolar symptoms with continued sobriety, we are able to treat with therapy or medication (where appropriate). In addition to sobriety, one of our goals is for each participant to “own” their bipolar disorder recovery through hope, personal responsibility and self-care. When an individual completes the drug or alcohol treatment program, they will be able to live a life free of drugs or alcohol and the majority of bipolar disorder symptoms.

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Drug and alcohol treatment is an essential process for individuals who have become addicted to them. However, finding the most effective treatment center for an individual and their situation, certainly can be challenging. The very drug rehab that worked for one person can have a completely different effect or outcome on another. Therefore, knowing as much as possible about that persons addiction as well as there upbringing and any underlying issues they might be dealing with should assist in making a more competent decision. But, you still need to educate yourself on the various treatments available to correctly match the needs of the addict to the right rehab facility.

Most people have heard of or are even familiar with the 12 step approaches recovery system. The 12 steps program may also be better known as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Cocaine Anonymous programs. These are the most widely used programs for drug addicts. What’s more, is that many drug or alcohol rehabilitation centers use the 12 steps as the foundation of there treatment program. However, the more comprehensive centers incorporate many other therapies and healing techniques to effectively treat all aspects of their patients illnesses. A main aspect of the 12 step program is putting faith in a higher power, the God of your choosing, which, makes it a faith based program.

Other drug and alcohol treatment programs are Christian based. These programs deliver drug addiction treatment based on Christianity, usually, they involve 12 step methods and some may also include different treatments such as psychotherapies.

Alternative addiction treatment programs use other styles of rehabilitation to achieve lasting recovery. these centers vary in type but have one thing in common they don not use the 12 step methodology. The most well known of these centers is the Narconon program. Narconon is a holistic treatment program that doesn’t believe in prescribing medication in the recovery process, other that medical detoxification for physically addicted individuals. In fact, in beginning phase of their program, students (as they refer to their patients) enter holistic detox, which consists of many vitamin supplements, an exercise regiment, and a low temperature sauna to excrete deep tissue toxins left from drug byproducts in the body.

Therapeutic Community rehab centers are an intensive approach to treatment, actually, too intense for many. They provide a no nonsense program which usually have clients working from early morning to late at night within the facility. Moreover, have verbal attack therapy sessions where individuals express anger toward one another in an attempt to brake down pridefulness and make those aware of the faults. Therapeutic Community drug rehabs are usually 1 to 2 years in length.

Although, drug addiction treatment can be very expensive remaining hooked on drugs or alcohol will eventually cost that person and their family and/or friends more in the long run. Its sometimes difficult to know which program is ideal for a person if would like help deturmaning an appropriate facilities for yourself or a loved one contact one of our drug counselors at no cost to you.

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Drug Detox Centers

The goal of detox is to rid the body of toxins accumulated by drug use. The first step of drug detox is drug withdrawal. Drug withdrawal is “the act or process of ceasing to use an addictive drug.” Once an individual has discontinued using drugs physical and behavioral withdrawal symptoms may follow. Drug detox is a process that helps diminish the uncomfortable symptoms of drug withdrawal.

Drug detox is performed in many different ways depending on where you decide to receive drug treatment. Most drug detox centers simply provide treatment to avoid physical withdrawal to alcohol and other drugs. A quality drug detox program will not only to provide the individual with counseling during detox but help with the physical withdrawal and the psychological root cause of the individual’s addiction problem, so as to decrease the chances of relapse.

A drug detox program can be viewed in three separate stages:

1. Medical Detox: A medical doctor will need to supervise your medical withdrawal from drugs, ensuring you complete this phase safely and with minimal complications. Medical detox can take several days.
2. Physical Detox: Once your body is no longer dependent on Drugs, you will need to work on building up your physical health. A nutritionist can be helpful during this phase, enabling you to develop a balanced diet to help you through the rest of the detox process.
3. Emotional Detox: Detox can be extremely difficult on your emotional health, which is why most addiction recovery centers offer counseling during detox. Because drugs have become an integral part of your mental, emotional and social life, you will need emotional help as you detox.

There are several types of drug detox programs which can be found on a website www.99detox.com which will provide the reader with quality information on drug detox centers. If you are looking for a drug detox center call 1-800-99-DETOX and staff will be available to assist you.

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Drug Rehab Programs Offer Increased Dual Diagnosis Treatment Services

It is encouraging that dual diagnosis treatment has gained widespread recognition as a special need area and that almost half of all drug rehab facilities across the country offer specialized dual diagnosis treatment programs for these people suffering from drug addiction and alcohol abuse. It is encouraging that the large majority of drug rehab facilities with dual diagnosis programs/groups offer various forms of counseling or therapy and that these drug rehab programs, overall, offer more services than drug rehab programs that do not offer dual diagnosis programs/groups. Nevertheless, it is of concern that many of these drug treatment programs lack the services required to meet the special needs of dual diagnosis clients; some of which are considered “critical components” of successful dual diagnosis treatment programs. Overall, approximately 35% of drug rehab centers with dual diagnosis treatment programs/groups did not offer prescription medications, 37.8% did not offer psychiatric or psychological assessment or diagnostic services, and 25% did not offer case management. Only a minority of the drug rehab centers with dual diagnosis programs/groups offered any transitional housing or employment assistance, HIV or domestic violence education, or health screening. Lack of these needed services may render dual diagnosis programs less effective.

Effectiveness of a Drug Rehab Center with Dual Diagnosis Treatment

The overall effectiveness of a drug rehab program with a dual diagnosis treatment program increases ten fold. One of the major factors when considering relapse is an untreated or poorly treated dual diagnosis. By providing effective dual diagnosis treatment services the client becomes more amenable to drug rehab services. You wind up with a more compliant client, more focused client and with enhances the overall treatment for others participating in drug rehab treatment. The key is being able to successfully integrate the dual diagnosis treatment services with the services being provided in the drug rehab program.

For additional information on dual diagnosis treatment or drug rehab programs you can review www.dual-diagnosis-treatment-center.com or www.recoveryconnection.org.

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