Dual Diagnosis Drug Treatment

Dual Diagnosis and the LGBT Community

With estimates stating that over 60% of drug treatment program admissions last year suffered from a dual diagnosis, it is no wonder a greater emphasis has been placed on effectively treating dual diagnosis. The statistics seem to be even higher relating to dual diagnosis in the LGBT community. With a greater incidence of drug addiction in the LGBT community, coupled with the challenges the gay community faces each day, dual diagnosis treatment for LGBT community is even of greater neccessity.

Dual diagnosis treatment programs differ from the typical addiction treatment program. The dual diagnosis program will place as great an emphasis on the psychiatric problem as they do on the drug addiction or alcohol addiction. Drug addiction or alcohol addiction with a psychiatric illness is challenging enough to treat and recover from, but when you add the issues associated with sexual orientation, it is even more complex. It is not unusual to find a member of the LGBT community that has developed depression and drug addiction in their attempt to deal with internalized homophobia, shame or the fear associated with “coming out”.

Gay Friendly Dual Diagnosis Treatment

While there are a few gay friendly drug treatment programs, there are even fewer gay friendly dual diagnosis treatment programs. By gay friendly, we refer to the dual diagnosis treatment program’s ability to deal with “gay specific” issues. Is the staff properly trained and have any homophobic attitudes been resolved on the part of the addiction treatment staff. The one thing a dual diagnosis treatment program can ill afford to do is add to the shame and alienation the person already feels.

If you are looking for a gay friendly drug rehab or gay friendly dual diagnosis treatment program you can call the national gay friendly drug addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 11:45 am and is filed under Dual Diagnosis Drug Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.