Before entering a treatment facility...
If you are concerned that you or a family member or friend may have co-occurring conditions, you probably feel uncertain about how to access the services you need. The only way you can ensure you get adequate treatment is to identify and confirm the presence of co-occurring disorders. This is the first and most central step towards your recovery.
Many substance use disorders involve symptomatology patterns that overlap with various mental disorders. You need to see an experienced psychiatrist or other trained mental health provider that can perform a differential diagnosis to determine what, if any, mental illnesses or substance problems you are suffering from.
Only after …show more content…
All area 's of a person 's life are examined and considered during treatment. IDDT incorporates approaches from a multidisciplinary team of providers who work collaboratively at treatment planning.[1]
What to Expect in Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Integrated dual diagnosis treatment approaches are structured so that, no matter where an individual enters the system (for treatment of either the substance abuse or the mental illness, or some other condition), you can get access to the care you need.
When you take advantage of this treatment approach, you can expect to receive a combination of the following six services[3]:
Initial screening and assessment. Your initial point of contact may be when seeking help for either the substance abuse or the mental illness. Regardless, effective programs involve thorough screening through inventories and/or questionnaires of behavioral and emotional symptoms to identify whether co-occurring disorders are present. Another facet of the initial intake process is assessment. The aim of assessment is to determine the severity of the co-occurring disorders; collect essential background information on the individual, including family and personal medical and psychiatric history, history of abuse, financial, legal, and education status, as well as resources the individual has …show more content…
After gaining the initial information, a referral is made to a qualified mental health provider. The initial consultation involves working with the client to establish tentative treatment goals and the precise services needed for your condition, taking into consideration individual strengths and weaknesses as well as social support.
Medication management with an on-site psychiatrist. The most ideal IDDT facilities will offer access to a staff psychiatrist who can prescribe medications that help with either detoxification from substances, prevention of acute withdrawal symptoms, and/or stabilization for psychiatric symptoms. The on-site psychiatrist will constantly monitor and review your progress to evaluate the risk level for abuse, the severity of the mental disorder, and how the dual disorders interact with one another.[12]
Psychotherapeutic intervention. In addition to pharmacological interventions, IDDT presents an opportunity for dual diagnosis clients to receive much-needed cognitive behavioral therapy techniques targeted towards helping an individual develop adaptive coping mechanisms for preventing relapse and managing the mental illness in addition to altering maladaptive thought patterns or behavior patterns that contributed to both. Therapy can be conducted in an individual, group, or family format. While virtually every client will participate in one-on-one therapy with a provider, other formats you participate in will depend on your