Drug Addiction and Mental Illness – Dual Diagnosis

Drug Addiction and Mental Illness put together will bring your life to a halt. Seek for help and get your life back, it is possible all is not lost for you.

Dual means two and so when we talk of dual diagnosis we refer to a term used to denote people with mental illness and at the same time suffers from drug addiction and alcohol. The combination of the two is very complex and administering treatment to persons suffering from both mental illness and drug addiction is difficult and more complicated compared to when both were to be treated separately. It is very worrying that people suffering from mental illness are also struggling with drug addiction concurrently. The environmental factors greatly influence how people get infected with these two health conditions. For instance people with low socioeconomic status, military veterans and those with multiple general medical illness tends to bear more risk of abusing drugs, alcohol and other stimulants. Dual diagnosis is so common this day’s that statistics indicate that one-third of all alcohol abusers and more than one-half of all drug abusers are also battling mental illness.

Drug Addiction and Mental Illness – Relationship between substance use and mental illness

The relationship between mental illness and substance abuse or dependency is complex and is often considered in the following ways:

• Drugs and alcohol may be used for self-medication. In such cases, people with mental illness may have untreated or inadequately treated conditions (such as anxiety or depression) that may “feel less painful” when the person is high on drugs or alcohol. Unfortunately, while drugs and alcohol may feel good in the moment, abuse of these substances doesn’t treat the underlying condition and almost without exception makes it worse.
• Drugs and alcohol can deteriorate the underlying mental illnesses. This can happen both during acute intoxication (e.g., a person with depression becomes suicidal in the context of drinking alcohol) and during withdrawal from a substance (e.g. a person with panic attacks experiences worsening symptoms during heroin withdrawal).
• Drugs and alcohol can cause a person without mental illness to experience the onset of symptoms for the first time. For example, a twenty-year old college student who begins to hear threatening voices inside of his head and becomes paranoid that his chemistry professor is poisoning his food after smoking marijuana could represent a reaction to the drug (potentially called a “substance-induced psychosis”) or the first episode of psychosis for this individual.

Drug addiction and alcohol always results in a worse prognosis for a person with mental illness. People who are actively using drugs are less likely to follow through with the treatment plans they created with their healthcare providers they are not likely to follow their medication regimens and may not be consistent in keeping their appointments. If this continues over time it may lead to more psychiatric hospitalizations and other adverse outcomes. Active users are also less likely to receive adequate medical care for similar reasons and are more likely to experience severe medical complications and premature death. Drug addicts with mental illness are also at increased risk of impulsive and potentially violent acts. Perhaps most concerning is that people who abuse drugs and alcohol are more likely to both attempt suicide and to die from their suicide attempts. Individuals with mental illness and active substance or alcohol abuse are less likely to achieve lasting sobriety. The consequences of their addiction may be lead to severe complications like having legal problems with the authorities.

Drug Addiction and Mental Illness – Treatments for individuals with dual diagnosis

As indicated above treatment for dual diagnosis is very complicated and it will be very important to first address any life threatening complications due to intoxication. For instance the following conditions may require immediate medical care in the confinement of a health facility:

• Extreme cases of alcohol intoxication may necessitate prompt medical treatment and can result in death if not arrested in good time.
• Use of amphetamines, crack, cocaine and other drugs can result in heart complications like arrhythmias, heart attacks, stroke and even death.
• Use of benzodiazepines (e.g. diazepam, clonazepam), opiates (e.g., oxycodone, oxycontin) and other downers can result in extreme sedation and potentially death in overdose.

Drug and alcohol withdrawal can lead to medical emergencies requiring immediate treatment. This can occur when a person who has been regularly using a particular substance has become addicted to that substance (the body has become physically dependent on the substance) and abruptly stops using. The following may necessitate immediate medical care in the hospital setting:

• Alcohol withdrawal can result in heart problems (e.g., arrhythmias), seizures or delirium tremens (an acute delirious state), all which can be potentially fatal.
• Benzodiazepine withdrawal can result in tremors (shakes), seizures and potentially death.
• Under normal circumstances opiate withdrawal is not considered to be life-threatening but it can be a very traumatic and painful experience.

It is important that those struggling with drug addiction and alcohol seek help through processes like inpatient detoxification either by admission to a hospital or a detoxification facility where appropriate medications can be done to avoid serious complications of acute drug and alcohol withdrawal. Scientific studies has established that psychiatric treatments very effective in individuals who are not actively abusing drugs and alcohol and therefore total healing from substance abuse must be achieved and once this is done the underlying mental illness may be more successful. It is important to note that mental illness treatment is more effective when the patient is sober though it can still be done along detoxification process. There are many working options for recovering addicts to help them keep on the course and to avoid relapse on drugs and alcohol like rehabilitation centers or supportive housing besides these you may choose to return home to your friends and family who can be helpful in supporting you to continue the efforts. This can be critically important as a significant majority of people will relapse into drug and alcohol abuse at some point in their lives, even if they are eventually able to achieve long-lasting sobriety. I will further recommend seeing an addiction expert from time to time for evaluation. Doctor Dalal Akoury who founded AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is an expert of more than two decades and has been helping people globally get well from their addiction problems in the most natural way. This is one experience am sure you do not want to miss and so when you visit this facility doctor Akoury together with her team of experts will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Drug Addiction and Mental Illness – Dual Diagnosis