Canadian Addiction Rehab Here Is Some More About Drug Addiction Treatment | Page 8

What is a Dual Diagnosis
Program?
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Dual Diagnosis refers to the diagnosis of two different
ailments which may overlap with one another. Generally,
this situation arises in mental health where the patient is
diagnosed with a serious mental disorder such as clinical
depression or anxiety along with substance abuse issues.
The amalgamation of these two issues, where one
directly affects the other one creates a conundrum for
healthcare professionals.
A person who has been diagnosed with two different
ailments or illnesses is often asked to treat one disease
before the other. In such cases, there is a separate
treatment plan and procedure for each disease, health
care professionals cannot simply treat both diseases with
one treatment plan. In order to help healthcare institutions
and more importantly, patients suffering from dual
diseases, the dual diagnosis program was formulated.
Prior to the development of the dual diagnosis program,
patients suffering from a mental disorder such as
depression, anxiety or bipolar disorders who also were
caught up in substance abuse were told to get clean
before they could get treatment for their mental health
disorders. This led to further deterioration in the health
condition of such individuals as unfortunately, substance
abuse is usually driven by a mental health disorder.