Dual Diagnosis is a term used to describe the coexistence of drug addiction / alcoholism and a psychiatric disorder. Research has shown that the LGBT community suffers from a higher incidence of drug addiction / alcoholism than the general population with the same holding true regarding depression and other mental health issues. This is not surprising when one takes into account all of the challenges we encounter. Individuals with psychiatric problems are more prone to drug addiction and alcoholism and we have found that almost 50 percent of people treated with a drug addiction or alcoholism, experience a psychiatric problem of one kind or another.

With this in mind, it can be very challenging in the early stages of drug rehab to correctly diagnose the presence of a dual diagnosis. The reasoning behind this statement is that while in the drug detox program and withdrawing from addictive substances, many of the symptoms people exhibit and experience mimic symptoms of a psychiatric illness. While every patient in drug rehab is provided with a psychiatric consultation to rule out or acknowledge the existence of a psychiatric disorder, we have found it to be in the best interest of our patients to try and wait until they have completed the drug detox program and are medically stable before making any firm diagnosis. If a patient reports a high level of discomfort, accompanied by symptoms, we address their situation immediately. It is not unusual to find that many addicts and alcoholics, unknowingly, used drugs and alcohol as a means to cope with an untreated psychiatric disorder. What they didn’t realize was that continued use would become an addiction, turning any already complex situation into an even more complicated one.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Program

The dual diagnosis treatment program is designed to treat the co-existence of a drug addiction and a psychiatric disorder. In order for dual diagnosis treatment to be effective, we believe both disorders must be treated con-currently. In conjunction with a variety group, individual, family and experiential therapies, medication management, relapse prevention and psychiatric follow up is an essential component of our dual diagnosis treatment program.  We have a board certified psychiatrist, trained in addiction medicine to evaluate all of our patients, with an addiction treatment staff skilled in dealing with dual diagnosis within our LGBT community.

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