Rehab and treatment for
Co-occurring
DISORDERS
MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA
When you enter a drug or alcohol rehab program that specializes in treating co-occurring disorders, you should have a full range of options to choose from. The thought of trying to recover from a mental health disorder like depression or bipolar disorder can be overwhelming if you’re also faced with the work of recovering from addiction. That’s why a comprehensive treatment plan and a supportive team are essential to your success.
Having a disorder like bipolar disorder, depression, or schizophrenia is no longer considered to be a reason for excluding clients from substance abuse treatment. At the same time, clients who abuse drugs or alcohol should not be excluded from psychiatric treatment because of a substance use disorder. But the fact remains that many drug rehab facilities don’t have the resources or the personnel to handle clients with psychiatric disorders.
At one time, treatment for drug or alcohol addiction was considered to be separate from treatment for mental health disorders. Care was delivered at different facilities using radically different therapeutic approaches. As a result, many people who suffered from depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, or other serious psychiatric conditions never received treatment for their substance abuse. By the same token, many drug rehab graduates with co-occurring disorders often never received adequate care for their underlying mental health concerns.
Today, addiction specialists and mental health clinicians view co-occurring disorders treatment as a unique field in its own right. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that severe psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder affect up to 5 percent of Americans, and that is one in five Americans that struggle with mental illness at some level.
Within that group, approximately 7 million people also suffer from drug or alcohol addiction. Integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders is the key to protecting this group from poverty, illness, isolation, incarceration, and homelessness that often affect Dual Diagnosis individuals.
Co-Occurring Treatment
In recent years, studies of rehabilitation programs for people with co-occurring disorders have shown that integrated treatment is the most effective approach. Combining strategies from the fields of psychiatry and addiction treatment can lower the relapse rate among rehab graduates, reduce the number of suicide attempts, and foster long-term abstinence, according to research gathered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Treating addictive disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders at the same time is important for several reasons:
-Integrated recovery plans are designed to overcome the negative side effects of mental health disorders, such as a reduced attention span, a low level of motivation, and a fear of socializing with others.
-Medication therapy is more effective when your pharmacological plan addresses your mental health disorder as well as your substance abuse disorder.
-In co-occurring disorders treatment, the traditional hesitations about prescribing psychotherapeutic medications are no longer an issue.
-Group therapy for people with co-occurring disorders offers a stronger support network for individuals who are struggling with mental illness as well as addiction.
-Treating addiction and a mental health disorder at the same time helps rehab clients address their unique relapse triggers, such as depression, mood swings, or panic attacks.
-Welcoming clients with co-occurring disorders into substance abuse treatment instead of excluding them because of a psychiatric condition
-When treatment for co-occurring disorders is combined with treatment.
DON’T JUST GET SOBER. CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
Find Mental Healing at The Akasha Center
If you’re seeking help for a co-occurring disorder, we offer the specialized care you’re looking for. Our centers rely on the latest therapeutic strategies for Dual Diagnosis rehab, such as the Foundations Model, to give our clients the very best chance of success.