Simultaneous approach must be made in order to deal with people who are struggling with chemical dependency and mental illness. Dual diagnosis treatment must be done at the same time in order to address the condition fairly and adequately. Problem is, there are just a few who can thoroughly address the problem and among these few rehabilitation centers still makes the wrong diagnosis and treatment plan for the individual. They are not yet prepared to deal with both afflictions that are occurring at the same time.
It is rare to meet a person who has co-existing disorders who is now enjoy zero relapses. Oftentimes, failure to identify that there are two existing problems can promote relapses. But if both problems are recognized, the person has the tendency to experience bouncing back and forth in services for substance abuse and mental illness. Treatment facilities can also result in refusal to treat the person which puts the individual and his or her family at the brink of being directly affected.
Uncoordinated and fragmented services and treatment can create certain gaps in the person’s vital reinforcement for co-occurring diseases. Nowadays, programs are more developed in order to treat the disorders in a simultaneous manner to be able to attain the optimum level of functioning in the individual.
There is an increased notion among medical health professionals that both disorders that are occurring within the person must be addressed to in order to attain effective treatment. Even though this is difficult because of the long-term and complex effects, there is still a need to further enhance the world of health in order to deal with the present situation.
Individuals who are already suffering may be hard to motivate to be able to engage in proper medication, thus poor compliance and the risk for relapses may occur. Several factors may also be the reason why people are experiencing dual diagnosis such as lack of benefits and housing from the people in authority.
Below is an integrated approach to the treatment of co-occurring disorders. It follows as:
• The mental health team responsible for the case must inform the person about what they have to offer like in terms of the services and treatment plans for the individual, how social support is extended and how families can become involved in the process of treatment.
• Establish a good working relationship. Once that is already made stable, the mental health team can have the opportunity to “dig in” and understand the nature and the different problems of the person and what appropriate measures are that needs to be done. Counseling skills can be imparted by the team in order to create a positive motivational scene in order to enhance the wellness of the person.
• Treatment must be the combination of modifying mental illness, provision of education and involvement of the family with regards to the cognitive behavior of the therapy.
• Lastly, treatment must be focused avoiding any kind of relapse. The person must have the capacity to identify different situations in his or her life in order to avoid temptations that’ll result to the vulnerability of the person on a particular substance and have the capacity to deal with the different situations.
With these treatment ideas, one can already determine the effectiveness of the plan of completely curing dual diagnosis.
