Historically, addiction treatment programs, drug rehabs, alcohol rehabs and psychiatric hospitals, have treated dual diagnosis separately. This has not proved to be an effective addiction treatment approach, and today most addiction treatment programs, drug rehabs, alcohol rehabs and psychiatric hospitals treat both disorders concurrently.

Ideally, drug addiction, alcoholism and psychiatric disorders should be treated simultaneously.

The first step in addiction treatment for drug or alcohol addiction must be detoxification – a period of time during which the body is allowed to cleanse itself of alcohol and/or drugs and manage all withdrawal symptoms.

Detox should be medically monitored in a dual diagnosis treatment program as medical challenges do occur. Time in detox varies, depending on what substances you are addicted to, the frequency of use and amount of usage.

Once stable in detox, a psychiatrist will assess you to determine the mental illness and how to best address it. Dual diagnosis treatment programs should take a gradual approach. Those with a dual diagnosis have to proceed at their own pace.

The goal of any quality dual diagnosis treatment program should be abstinence and medication compliance.

After completing drug addiction treatment or drug / alcohol rehab, you should be involved in psychiatric follow up and aftercare in the program you have completed in order to prevent relapse.

Not everyone is a candidate for inpatient dual diagnosis treatment programs. It all depends upon the severity of the problems and willingness of the patient. For people whose drug or alcohol addiction is not severe enough to warrant detox, an outpatient dual diagnosis treatment program might be the solution. It is important to note that while outpatient dual diagnosis treatment is certainly an option, it is for those who are extremely motivated. Denial is an inherent part of the problem with dual diagnosis. The person with dual diagnosis often does not have insight as to the seriousness and the scope of their problem. It can prove quite challenging to refrain from drug and alcohol use, while trying to manage psychiatric medications and a mental illness. For many, the structure of an inpatient dual diagnosis treatment program has made recovery from dual diagnosis that much easier.