The prevalence of coexisting mental health and substance use problems (called “dual diagnosis”) can affect between 30 and 70 percent of those who go to health and social care settings. Its purpose is to help professionals plan, organize and provide services to people with dual diagnosis. A 2002 study in Bromley found that dual diagnosis was present in 20% of community mental health clients, 43% of hospitalized psychiatric patients, and 56% of people in safe services. However, arbitrarily stopping medication or treatment is a common reason for relapse in people with co-occurring disorders.
In 2002, the Department of Health reported that supporting people with dual diagnosis was one of the biggest problems facing frontline mental health services and highlighted that fragmented care leads people to fall into service cracks. It contains case studies of services that work with individuals with a dual diagnosis in a variety of settings and locations, and offers practical help for those who want to establish dual diagnosis services. People with dual diagnosis have complex needs related to stressors or health, social, economic, and emotional circumstances that can often be exacerbated by substance abuse. The writer and activist, Sam Thomas, knows very well the barriers faced by people with dual diagnoses when seeking support.
The problem with dual diagnosis, according to Liz McCoy, leader of Drugs and Alcohol and Addictive Behaviors at the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, is that people living with alcohol and drug addiction and a coexisting mental health disorder easily slide through the system and, more often than not, are not supported vital that they need. We could address them individually, so he could be in treatment a little longer than a normal patient would. When you have received that dual diagnosis of aggravated addictions, you should act accordingly and consider both. Established as a concept more than 30 years ago, the dual diagnosis describes a person with a mental illness and a substance use disorder.
Coexisting Problems of Mental Disorder and Substance Abuse (Dual Diagnosis) - An Information Manual 2002; Royal College of Psychiatrists. If you have serious mental health problems and substance misuse, you may be given what is known as a “dual diagnosis,” when both problems are diagnosed. Di Lorenzo R, Galliani A, Guicciardi A, et al; A retrospective analysis focused on a group of dual-diagnosed patients treated by mental health and substance use services.
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