What is Dual Diagnosis?

A dual diagnosis occurs when an individual is determined to have a mental disorder and a substance abuse problem; it is not uncommon for mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders are reported to frequently occur in conjunction with an alcohol or drug addiction. Many times, the mental disorder will occur first, which may lead people to begin to use alcohol or various other types of drugs as a way of self medicating in order to try and make themselves feel better. In cases of dual diagnosis, it is often extremely difficult to make an accurate diagnosis, because a substance abuse problem can mimic, mask, or aggravate many mental health disorders.

In order to treat a dual diagnosis, both the substance abuse problem and the mental disorder must be treated. Because these two conditions have often been reported to occur simultaneously, it can be difficult for the professional counselors and mental health care providers to pinpoint an accurate diagnosis. The "double troubled" patient can be extremely difficult to diagnose properly. Often, a patient or their loved ones will resist a dual-diagnosis, as a person with a mental disorder may be in denial about their drug addiction or vice versa. A substance abuse problem may cover up a serious psychiatric illness; additionally, a mental condition such as depressions can easily be covered up when an individual self medicates by abusing drugs or alcohol.

It is extremely difficult to make a dual diagnosis in relation to teenagers; being able to separate a normal mood variation of a typical teenager from certain mental disorders, such as bi-polar, can be a seemingly impossible task. When a drug or alcohol addiction problem is also present with what may appear to be normal adolescent mood fluctuations, the variables can become staggering.

Many patients that are diagnosed with a dual diagnosis problem will attempt to use one disorder to shield for another one; thus, it is not uncommon for an individual to admit to having mental health issues, for the purpose of avoiding their drug or alcohol addiction problem. Often times, after the individual resolves his mental disorder, he will drop out of the drug treatment program.

It has often been reported that sexual abuse has been a problem for many individuals who have been determined to have a dual diagnosis; a recent government study reported that over 40% percent of the individuals who attended Dual Diagnosis meetings after completing treatment, had experienced some form of sexual abuse earlier in their life.

Even when a person with a mental health disorder and co-existing drug or alcohol addiction has been diagnosed, locating the proper form of treatment can often be a difficult task; this is because many mental health care professionals are divided in regard to the best way to treat these patients. An additional problem that an individual with a dual-diagnosis may face is being discriminated against by some treatment professionals that may not believe that they are "truly clean and sober" if they are still taking various psychiatric medications.