The
SoberRecovery Glossary of Terms
Dual
Diagnosis
Dual diagnosis refers to people who have been diagnosed with
a major mental illness along with addiction. The problem is that
substance abuse, which has components of mental illness, often
masks and/or aggravates other psychological symptoms. Conversely,
those with psychological symptoms may self-medicate with drugs
and alcohol. The result can be confusion over the needed treatment
resulting in relapse and other major problems.
As a general rule, treatment for mental illness is close to impossible
if the mentally ill addict is still abusing the drug of choice.
On the other hand, the addict may find it extremely difficult
to actually stop using until at least some of the psychiatric
symptoms are relieved. Ideally, both conditions are recognized
and treated together. In practice one problem is often recognized
before (sometimes long before) the other.
There are treatment centers for the dually addicted that address
both the mental illness and the addiction. There are also 12 Step
meetings and other support groups that are aimed at dual addiction.
Related
links: Dual
Diagnosis |
