Dual Diagnosis Drug and Alcohol Treatment

Those with a dual diagnosis (co-occuring disorder) are high risk patients who may respond differently to drug and alcohol recovery programs. Because recovery for a dual diagnosis is so challenging, it is necessary that an individual suffering from an addiction, as well as any mental health issues that could possibly contribute to their addiction, seek help at Unity Rehab. We understand that due to the psychological problems related to drug or alcohol abuse, special and more complicated treatment is needed in order for a patient to properly recover from their addiction.

Dual diagnosis occurs when someone suffers from an alcohol or drug addiction as well as a mental disorder such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorders. In most drug and alcohol addiction cases, the mental illness was present before the addiction and often responsible for the addiction, as someone suffering a mental illness will use drugs or alcohol to self medicate and mask their issues. This may lead some to believe that it is important to seek help for the mental illness before the physical addiction, but handling one problem and waiting to address the other, isn't effective treatment. If someone was injured in a car accident and suffered multiple broken bones, a doctor wouldn't mend their broken arm and wait for it to get better before mending their broken leg. A proper rehab program is needed to effectively treat both the problems at the same time, the addiction and the mental disease, in order to achieve the best possible rehabilitation outcome.

While many patients turn to drugs and alcohol as a way of dealing with disorders such as depression or stress, diagnosing a dual diagnosis in substance abusers is sometimes difficult because the drug use itself can often cause symptoms that present like a mental illness. During dual diagnosis recovery, it's the "interaction" between both the mental illness and the physical addiction that treatment needs to focus on. Treating both problems simultaneously. In order to do so, we offer an effective unification of services and cross-trained counselors that incorporate a managed care system for an individual dealing with dual diagnosis. Treatment will usually consist of medication, detoxification, rehabilitation, mental health services, counseling, therapy, 12-step meetings and other therapeutic options.

Recovery is even harder to obtain for people suffering from a mood or mental disorder.  If you have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or depression, it may seem that getting clean and sober is just too hard for you right now. We specialize in treating addicts/alcoholics with bi-polar disorder and other dual diagnosis issues.  Managing a secondary diagnosis is the key to getting your alcohol and drug addiction under control.  Here at Unity Recovery Center in Florida, we believe in surrounding the patient with resources to begin their journey to recovery.  While in our alcohol and drug treatment center in Fl, each patient is evaluated by a Psychiatrist and a Medical ARNP to assess all of the patients' medical needs.  A regimen of care is prescribed based on the specific needs of the patient.  The client will than meet with his or her psychiatrist weekly. He will continually evaluate their progress and ongoing needs. Our psychiatrist is on call 24 hours a day for emergencies as well.