The need for drug rehab to heal alcoholism and drug addiction goes far beyond physical reliance. There are often much deeper, underlying psychological issues that contribute to drinking and these factors need to be rooted out and addressed for recovery to be successful.

The psychological need or craving for drugs and alcohol is the most difficult part of the recovery process to treat. Oftentimes there is chemical imbalance present that may create mood disorders and a person will self-medicate with drugs and alcohol in order to stabilize their emotions. For instance, someone who is depressed may turn to stimulants to boost their mood while someone who suffers from anxiety may take a drink or a Xanax to calm down. Individuals may not even be aware they are using drugs and alcohol to balance out a chemical imbalance. In the process of self-medicating, they become addicted to drugs and alcohol. For this reason, it’s necessary for an individual to be properly diagnosed with a clinical evaluation for successful treatment in drug rehab and dual diagnosis.

Drug Rehab: Clinical Evaluation

A clinical evaluation is generally given by a psychologist using proven diagnostic tests to determine whether an underlying chemical imbalance is present that could be contributing to the addiction. If an individual is diagnosed with bi-polar disorder or anxiety in addition to alcoholism or drug addiction, this is referred to as dual diagnosis in drug rehab or co-occurring disorders. Once this is diagnosed, drug rehab and dual diagnosis treatment has a better chance at being successful.

Drug Rehab: Treating Dual Diagnoses

People come to rely on drugs and alcohol because of the way it makes them feel. If they are self-medicating an underlying mood disorder, this needs to be treated through therapy and possibly even medication in order for drug and alcohol treatment to be successful.

Clinical therapy can help root out underlying issues that could be contributing to alcoholism and drug addiction. Family dynamics, childhood or adult trauma or abuse (physical, verbal, emotional), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are all symptomatic of traumatic or life-threatening situations that have created a strong fear of harm and/or preservation. Individuals need to work through these issues and release them in order to also release the need for alcohol and drugs to numb or escape. This is not an overnight process.

As a last resort, medication may be prescribed to help individuals through the most traumatic events or depressive episodes. Working through clinical therapy, the goal is to release the need for medication, drugs or alcohol and live a life free of emotional pain. Finding a drug rehab for dual diagnosis can make all the difference in a person’s recovery.

It’s very common for people who have problems with drugs and alcohol to have underlying chemical imbalance that results in mood disorders. People may be using alcohol and drugs to self-medicate in an attempt to control mood swings resulting from depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. Someone who has a chemical imbalance and is simultaneously addicted to drugs or alcohol is said to have “Dual Diagnosis,” also known as co-occurring disorders. If you’re not sure if you have dual diagnosis, its important to attend get a clinical diagnosis and tailored treatment at a drug rehab for dual diagnosis.

Drug Rehab Programs and Dual Diagnoses

Drug rehab for dual diagnosis treatment is necessary. It’s estimated that approximately 70% of people who struggle with alcohol and drug addiction have mood disorders. People may drink or take drugs in an effort to balance out the highs and lows associated with these disorders. Consistent and prolonged use of alcohol or drugs results in change to brain chemistry that further aggravates the problem. For this reason, when seeking treatment for alcohol or drug addiction it’s important to find a drug rehab for dual diagnosis.

Drug Rehab Treatment and Dual Diagnosis

When you research drug rehab treatment, find out if they have the proper staff personnel to evaluate whether you may have dual diagnoses. If you’ve never been diagnosed, the time to find out is before or when you enter drug rehab for treatment. If you don’t find out whether you have an underlying mood disorder that could be contributing to your alcohol or drug addiction, you may not remain sober.
Chemical imbalance requires management so extreme mood swings don’t knock you off balance. A clinical therapist or psychologist on staff at a drug rehab for dual diagnosis is qualified to give you a clinical evaluation that determines whether you have dual diagnosis. This then allows for a treatment plan to be developed specifically for you that may include prescribed medication or extra therapy sessions in order to assist you in managing symptoms without the use of drugs and alcohol.

Dual diagnosis aka Co-Occurring mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders affect nearly 14 million Americans each year. Of those only 19% receive the appropriate treatment for both conditions, with the vast majority bounced among different treatment systems and facilities that treat one of the conditions but not the other. Few treatment programs specialize in treating complex co- occurring or dual diagnosis disorders. Nationally, research continues to reveal that people with co-occurring or dual diagnosis disorders need a specialized form of treatment, referred to as integrated services.

Treatment systems for mental health and addiction have historically been and will continue to be separated systems of care. While many research studies have been performed on mental health issues and addictions separately, it has only been within recent years that a few studies have emerged on people who struggle with both conditions in unison. This emerging research identifies that traditional separated systems of care not only alienate the patient from the treatment, but they also result in much poorer outcomes than those experienced by patients with single disorders.

According to researchers and ever more surprising, we are just now learning from these studies that treatment programs designed to treat a specific disorder only are actually only capable of treating the minority of those in need where, in fact, up to 65.5% of patients with a substance abuse disorder had at least one mental disorder as well and 51% of patients with a mental disorder had at least one substance abuse disorder. We are also learning that these poorer outcomes result as much from these separate and contradictory systems of care as from the diagnoses themselves with people who have co-occurring conditions comprising the majority of the 10 percent of people using over 70 percent of the country’s healthcare resources