Living with a Dual Diagnosis
By Jenn Mullins
There are many people in this world who suffer from addiction and other mental health diseases, such as depression or bipolar disorder. When living with addiction and other mental illnesses, you are considered to be a dual diagnosis.
When living with a dual diagnosis, life can be hard and it can make getting and staying sober even harder. However, you need to understand you’re not alone in this and there is dual diagnosis treatment available to those who need and want the help.
What makes living with a dual diagnosis difficult is figuring out whether the substance abuse triggered your depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, or if you were using drugs and alcohol to cope with your mental health disorders.
When you’re able to make the decision to get the treatment you deserve, therapists in a dual diagnosis treatment center will help you pinpoint whether you were using substances to cope or the addiction is what brought the mental illness out.
Before you are accepted into a dual diagnosis treatment center, however, you will need to undergo an evaluation to be sure dual diagnosis treatment is right for you.
Being Assessed for Dual Diagnosis Treatment
There is no need to worry about going through a dual diagnosis assessment; you’re just going to be asked a series of simple questions which will determine if, in fact, you need the extra help at a dual diagnosis treatment facility. If you’re nervous about getting an assessment done, here’s what you should expect:
- You’ll be asked about your support system and if you’re ready for treatment.
- You will talk about your motivation for treatment and why you want to become better.
- A mental evaluation will be done to be sure you meet the psychiatric criteria.
- Be prepared to talk about your substance abuse and how it has negatively affected your personal/professional relations, your finances, and overall health.
If the doctors agree you qualify for dual diagnosis treatment then you will take the necessary steps to get into detox immediately following with rehabilitation.
Signs of Dual Diagnosis
If you want to be sure you have a dual diagnosis before getting evaluated, here are symptoms to look out for due to mental illness:
- Lack of energy
- Suicidal thoughts (if you feel like you are going to hurt yourself please do not hesitate and call the suicide prevention hotline)
- Hopelessness
- Fear
- Anger or rage
- Lack of interest in things that used to motivate you
- Irrational thinking
- Irritability
- Change in sleeping patterns, weight, or appetite
The signs of substance abuse disorders are similar but have other symptoms such as:
- Cravings for alcohol, heroin, meth, or your substance of choice
- Not being able to control your usage
- Building a tolerance to the drug you use
- If you try and stop, your body goes into withdrawal
- Spending all of your time and money on your drug of choice
- Putting the drug before your family, friends, and work
- Wanting to stop but feeling like quitting is next to impossible
After reading these symptoms, if you lack a few or have more than what is listed, still get evaluated. Each individual is different and the symptoms can vary from person to person. Some symptoms may not be all that obvious, nevertheless, then you should still get evaluated at a treatment center since both addiction and other mental illnesses need to be treated.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Once you’re ready to be evaluated, you’ll go to the treatment center and be asked a series of questions like the ones talked about above. When you’re accepted into the program, depending on the drug you were taking, you’ll probably head to a detox facility to ensure your safety.
Going to a detox facility is one of the first steps in treatment after admitting to your problem. Detox is a vital part of recovery because withdrawals tend to make it difficult for you to stop due to the pain.
Some signs of withdrawal include anxiety, restlessness, vomiting, increased blood pressure, chills, nausea, hallucinations, and diarrhea.
The good thing about detox is the doctors and nurses will be there to medicate you with the necessary medication which will help alleviate your pain from the withdrawal. Some medication you might take would be Suboxone, Subutex, Clonidine, and Gabapentin. Each individual’s medication will differ depending on the drug taken in their addiction and how their body reacts to the detoxification process.
The medication you will take in detox won’t take away the pain, but it will make you feel one hundred times better than if you were doing it cold turkey. Also, the medication will help individuals coming off benzodiazepines and alcohol have a safe withdrawal without complications.
Once you have detoxed, you will then go into the part of your treatment plan where you need to put in the work to stay sober. In treatment, you’ll go through a multitude of therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and individual psychotherapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is great with helping you learn different behaviors and how to react to situations in a way that won’t bring you back to drugs or aggressive behavior. Individual psychotherapy is a bit more intense and will help you drop behaviors you’ve learned while using drugs such as lying, manipulation, and stealing.
You’ll go through many other treatments to help you recover from your dual diagnosis but the treatments you join will depend on your mental state and dual diagnosis treatment center you attend.
There Is Hope for Dual Diagnosis
After going through therapy and learning a new way of life, you may be medicated to help your mental health disorders with antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications. These medications should be non-addictive and only help you excel in life rather than pull you back.
Going through treatment is going to be intimidating at first but it’s something you’ll never be upset about doing. You’ll learn things about yourself you never knew were there and most important of all: you’ll learn how to live and manage your mental illness, sober.
Author Bio
Jenn is a freelance contributor. Whether it’s personal finance, economics, or social issues, Jenn enjoys digging into complex topics to spark new thoughts and conversations.
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