The Dual-Diagnosis Drug Rehab Myth
A growing trend in the drug rehab field over the last decade or so is called either a dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorder. What this means is that people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction are also given mental health labels because of their symptoms and their corresponding treatments have been found to be more harmful than good.
The main problem with this is that probably
every substance abuser on Earth displays symptoms of some disorder or another,
which not only questions the validity of the disorder itself but also makes it
more difficult for addicts to fully recover. Besides, there are no blood or
urine tests to determine if someone has one of these diagnoses, and brain scans
are only hypothetical as to what they're really looking at.
The difficulty stems from telling someone they have a brain disease as well as from the side effects of the drugs used in rehabs to treat the symptoms of the disorders. By definition, giving addicts more drugs might be considered a form of treatment, but it cannot be rehabilitation. In addition, the drugs often given to somebody include harmful substances such as antidepressants that carry heavy "Black Box" warnings, antipsychotics that cause diabetes among other things, and anti-anxiety drugs that are also very addictive and can throw someone into a psychosis if they suddenly stop taking them.
We continually get calls from individuals and family members who have been deceived by drug rehab programs into thinking that the issue was a dual diagnosis, yet many years later after several treatment attempts and several medications the problem still exists.
What we have found to be the case with most addicts is that if they are able to be completely detoxified and they get the necessary life skills to be productive and happy, then their new drug-free life will be free of the symptoms described in the mental health disorders.
Before you let another treatment center convince you that your loved one has a dual diagnosis or a co-occurring disorder, call us to find an effective drug rehab program that works. We recommend long-term, drug-free rehab programs that use a biophysical approach.
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