Upon entering rehab, everyone goes through an intake interview process. The interview process is in place to help the rehab’s administrative staff gather information about the circumstances surrounding the client’s addiction issues. Going forward, this information will form the basis for creating a custom treatment plan for each client.
As part of the interview process, clients will need to answer questions about their mental and emotional health. This is not an attempt on the part of the rehab’s staff members to pry unnecessarily into any client’s lihe. Instead, this information is necessary to help determine the proper course of treatment.
Why does the potential presence of mental or emotional health issues matter? Through experience, addiction treatment professionals know that quite often, mental and emotional health issues can play a role in the client’s addiction problem. When this happens, the rehab’s administrative staff puts forth a diagnosis of co-occurring disorders.
To be clear, the diagnosis of co-occurring disorders is valid if and only if there is a causation connection between the two disorders. If not, the client simply has other issues they need to address after completing rehab. If the causation connection is there, the administrative staff will often recommend dual-diagnosis therapy.
Does the treatment process in Florida always involve dealing with mental health issues? It’s dangerous to speak in terms of absolutes. The reality is a lot of clients get through rehab without having to address mental health issues. Sometimes, it happens because the treatment staff deems there is no causation connection. Other times, it might be because the staff missed the presence of mental health issues. Regardless of why it happens, not all treatment programs involve dealing with mental health issues during the addiction treatment process.
When the staff does recognize the presence of co-occurring disorders, they revert to the aforementioned dual diagnosis therapy option.
About Dual Diagnosis Therapy
During the discussion above, we mentioned the term causation connection on several occasions. In terms of a client suffering from both an addiction and a mental health issue, the causation connection matters significantly.
Note: Causation can actually go both ways. In most cases, the mental health issue is at least part of the reason clients start using drugs or alcohol. It makes sense they would turn to substance abuse as a means for covering the pain and shame they feel because of theor mental health issues. It’s even possible the drugs someone is taking for their mental health issues are the same drugs they are abusing.
Causation can also go the other way, though it’s not quite as common. In such cases, a person becomes so deeply involved in their drug addiction that mental issues that were not present before the drug abuse start to appear. Most of the time, drug/alcohol addiction will cause mental health problems like depression and anxiety, though other forms of psychosis could appear.
When co-occurring disorders are present, the client needs treatment for both disorders. Furthermore, they need treatment for both disorders simultaneously. Why? There is always the potential that the untreated disorder will continue causing problems. That isn’t going to bode well for the addiction treatment process that will likely fail, leading to chronic relapses.
There is one other aspect of dual diagnosis therapy that warrants discussion. It’s not always an easy process to manage. First, a highly trained and certified therapist has to handle the mental health portion of the therapy process. If the rehab facility doesn’t employ a therapist who is licensed to handle both components of the dual diagnosis therapy process, the client will have to work with multiple therapists.
Second, the whole process can get more complicated. If the rehab facility doesn’t employ anyone who is licensed to treat mental health disorders, the facility might have to outsource said treatment. That could create a dilemma for everyone involved in the process.
Regardless of potential complications, dual diagnosis treatment is almost always the right call for clients with co-occurring disorders.
If you suspect you are suffering from a mental health issue as well as an addiction, you need to get help sooner rather than later. Without the right kind of treatment, you run the risk of your life falling apart. We are here to help you. If you have co-occurring disorders, we can provide you with the dual diagnosis therapy you need. We ask you to start the ball rolling by contacting one of our staff members at 833-846-5669. After your initial call, we can begin working on developing a treatment program that should lead you to recovery.