Drug addiction is an incredibly serious disorder with countless side effects. For instance, it can significantly impact the health of the addict and their well-being.
From cardiovascular disease to kidney failure, there’s no shortage of issues it may cause.
On top of that, addiction is usually accompanied by several mental conditions. That includes depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia.
When a person has an addiction coupled with a mental disorder, we call that dual diagnosis. This can further complicate the road to recovery.
The only way to overcome these disorders is through implementing behavioral changes.
So, if you’re interested in behavioral health and dual diagnosis for addiction treatment, we can help. In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about the process.
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Behavioral Health and Dual Diagnosis Overview
Before we jump into treatment plans, you should understand what behavioral health is. This term may seem complicated, but it’s actually quite simple.
It refers to how mental health and substance abuse relate to each other. That means it’ll focus on the person’s psychological state and physical condition.
Because of that, behavioral health is crucial to addiction treatment. For starters, it’ll address the emotional needs of a drug user.
The therapy will provide mental support to help addicts recover. Besides that, it’ll improve any physical symptoms they may be having.
This, in turn, will make overcoming chemical dependency much easier. That’s especially true for individuals who suffer from a dual diagnosis.
These are people who battle addiction and have co-occurring mental disorders.
Miracles Recovery Center’s Approach to Behavioral Health and Dual Diagnosis
You can deal with behavioral health care/mental health care and dual diagnosis in several ways. Until the 1990s, people viewed addiction and mental health as two separate issues.
That means they’d address each disorder individually. This can slow down the recovery process and lead to several problems.
So, at Miracles Recovery, we deal with them in tandem. We specialize in creating a safe space for addicts to feel understood.
Plus, we provide many tools to help ease any symptoms of withdrawal.
Here are a few examples of the services we offer:
- Psychiatric assessment
- Evaluation and medication case management
- Medical detoxification
- Group therapy
- Recreational therapy
- 12-step programs
- Nutritional consultations
On top of that, we partner with the Orlando addiction recovery community. This allows us to provide treatment beyond the four walls of our institution.
We’ll help you transition from our programs to a normal society.
To ensure you receive the best care, Miracles Recovery has an interdisciplinary team. It’s a massive group of professionals and clinicians with different expertise ensuring evidence-based approaches for all ages– adolescents, young adults, and even adults who seek help to recover from addiction and self-harm episodes.
Some will focus on improving your mental state, while others will help with physical ailments.
Key Components of Behavioral Health and Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Now that you know what dual diagnosis therapy is, we can discuss the process.
1. Medical Detoxification and Stabilization
First up, addicts need to eliminate the drug from their systems. Yet, quitting cold turkey can prove quite challenging. That’s because the addict will start to feel the effects of withdrawal.
They may exhibit violent physical symptoms like nausea and twitches. These can have severe adverse effects on the mental state of the addict.
This will make staying away from drugs exceptionally difficult.
Luckily, medical detoxification can help out with that. It’s when doctors prescribe medications to relieve some of the stress of withdrawal.
For instance, they can rely on methadone and buprenorphine. This will stabilize the addict’s condition and make the withdrawal symptoms bearable.
2. Therapeutic Intervention
Flushing the drugs out of an addict’s system is only the first step of recovery. Once that’s done, we can focus on other methods of therapeutic intervention.
For example, at Miracles Recovery, we can provide cognitive-behavioral therapy.
This can help addicts manage all sorts of mental conditions. For example, it can address depression, anxiety, and the stress of coping without drugs.
It’s similar to normal talk therapy but much more structured and goal-oriented.
Besides that, we offer dialectical behavioral therapy. This treatment program can tackle deep psychological problems in a simplified manner.
That’s why it’s the perfect therapy for dealing with intense issues like borderline personality disorder.
3. Medication Management
Dual diagnosis therapy can be exceptionally tricky. That’s because you have to address physical and mental issues at the same time.
Thankfully, there are medications that can help with both problems. These can make the symptoms of withdrawal much more manageable.
Yet, you’ll need close monitoring if you’re on more than one medication. This is to ensure that addicts don’t suffer from negative drug interactions.
That’s why medication management is such a crucial part of dual diagnosis recovery.
4. Peer Support and Group Therapy
Unfortunately, many addicts don’t have a strong, healthy support system. This can complicate the road to recovery and make it much more difficult.
That’s why dual diagnosis therapy relies on peer support and group therapy. There, addicts will get to meet others who suffer from similar conditions.
This will lead to a sense of community and belonging. On top of that, reformed addicts will be able to provide social support to newcomers.
They’ll help them with acclimating to their new life as recovering addicts.
Plus, the process will promote understanding. Former drug users can explain certain behavioral habits and how to overcome them.
5. Personalized Care in Behavioral Health and Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Behavioral health and dual diagnosis aren’t one-size-fits-all issues. Each addict will have unique problems that need personalized solutions.
That’s why every treatment plan should cater to the specific needs of the patient.
Plus, as addicts improve, they’ll require different forms of therapy. So, there needs to be continual assessments.
Wrapping Up
If you or your loved one is interested in behavioral health services and dual diagnosis, there are a few factors to consider. At Miracles Recovery, a treatment provider provides healthcare services and assistance with all sorts of issues.
For example, we offer behavioral therapy and other treatment services that deals with an addict’s mental illness and physical health.
The main components of this treatment include medical detoxification and therapeutic intervention. Besides that, it involves medication management and peer support.
Finally, each treatment plan should cater to the patient suffering from substance use disorder’s personal needs and wellness to help them overcome mental health conditions and behavioral health crisis by providing top-notch primary care mental health services.