For many people, receiving dual diagnosis treatment is an essential part of addiction recovery. In dual diagnosis, substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health disorders are treated at once.
This eliminates the need to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, and it gives people the skills and tools they need for maintaining both mood balance and general stability across all life areas. If you plan on entering a Mississippi rehab and are living with chronic anxiety, chronic depression, or other mental health challenges, finding a location that offers dual diagnosis treatment is vital. The good news is that rehab professionals recognize the importance of dual diagnosis treatment.
They’re also aware of the consistently high rate of mental health issues among those struggling with addiction. When co-occurring disorders are not addressed in rehab, patients face an incredibly high risk of relapsing. Rehab services aren’t just tailored to help people achieve a prolonged state of abstinence. They are also largely focused on relapse prevention.
As such, many rehab centers in Mississippi and in other parts of the nation offer treatment for co-occurring disorders as part of their primary range of services. Their dual diagnosis programs offer treatment for:
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Major depressive disorder
- General anxiety disorder
- Panic disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
Dual diagnosis treatment can also help those with personality disorders and many other mental health issues. In dual treatment, patients can develop a better understanding of their conditions, adopt long-term management strategies, and obtain the right combination of medications and ongoing therapies.
What to Expect in Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Dual diagnosis treatment recognizes that addiction is largely tied to the distress of unknown and unmanaged mental health issues. People often turn to drugs or alcohol in an effort to alleviate symptoms that they don’t fully understand and that frequently leave them feeling overwhelmed. Unfortunately, substance abuse of any type can actually exacerbate the symptoms of many mental health disorders.
While untreated mental health issues set the stage for addiction, drug and alcohol addiction heightens the intensity of the very problems that people are attempting to self-treat. Thus, even taking part in a successful, medically supervised detox program can result in a marked improvement in a person’s mental and emotional well-being. Rehab centers always start their dual diagnosis treatment by carefully examining the symptoms that exist. Their goal is to ensure that mental health disorders are accurately diagnosed, even if patients have been assessed in other treatment environments before.
Accurate diagnosis is essential for ensuring effective treatment. Once a person’s co-occurring disorders are known, psychoeducation is used to foster patient understanding. In psychoeducation, people learn more about the challenges, nuances, and needs of the illnesses that they’re living with. In some instances, options in psychoeducation are made available to patients’ family members as well.
For dual diagnosis to succeed, people must be willing to make a long-term commitment to strategically managing their illnesses. This includes participating in various form of continuing therapy and continuing to take any prescribed medications. Psychotherapy is another major component of dual diagnosis treatment. Psychotherapy helps patients:
- Learn healthy coping skills
- Improve their distress tolerance
- Develop stress management plans
- Identify triggers and learn to use avoidance and other mitigation strategies
There are multiple options in psychotherapy for those with co-occurring disorders. Moreover, certain forms of psychotherapy are better suited to specific illnesses. As you shop your options in Mississippi rehab centers, it’s a good idea to look for facilities that offer a broad range of therapy types. Among some of the top options in psychotherapy to look for are:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Motivational interviewing
- Immersion therapy
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy
Searching for Mississippi rehab centers that offer dual diagnosis treatment isn’t just important for people who’ve been diagnosed with mental health disorders before but still lack effective management plans.
Many people who live with drug or alcohol use disorders are simultaneously facing the symptoms of mental health issues that have yet to be identified by their regular doctors. Having in-house access to this treatment while attending rehab ensures that you’ll have the resources, therapy, and other support services that you need for succeeding in recovery. If you’re currently searching for a rehab center in Mississippi that offers treatment for co-occurring disorders, we can help. Call us now at 855-334-6120 to get started.
What to Expect From Drug and Alcohol Rehab Programs
