What is dual pathology and how does it affect people?

This is how dual pathology wears down people's physical and mental health.

If substance addictions are such severe disturbances is, among other things, because this kind of pathologies give rise to other health problems very often.

So much so that a term has been coined to refer to the clinical picture of those who have developed a drug addiction and, in addition, have a mental disorder. It is about pathology, a concept we will talk about in this article..

What does dual pathology consist of?

As we have already mentioned, dual pathology is a combination of health problems: on the one hand, an addiction to one or more substances, and on the other, a psychological disorder..

In cases like this, both types of pathologies damage the quality of life of the person in parallel, although not completely independently, since they reinforce each other as they deteriorate the mental and physical state of the subject, which encourages him or her to continue reproducing patterns of behavior that worsen his or her problem. In addition, those with a poorer state of physical health are also more prone to anxiety disorders and psychopathologies such as depression, due to the problem of managing the negative emotions that this physical discomfort produces.

However, as can be seen, within the concept of dual pathology there are many different types of disorders.. Moreover, it should be noted that there is no clear scientific consensus on the definition of the term, so that sometimes it is used to include all existing psychological disorders, but at the same time it is used especially when the psychological disturbance is severe, as in the case of schizophrenia, major depression, etc. However, beyond the theory and the official definitions used in diagnostic manuals, in practice it is a useful concept to help people suffering from this kind of pathology.

How does it affect people?

These are the main ways in which dual pathology harms a person's state of health and quality of life.

1. Use of drugs to try to alleviate discomfort

Many people with dual pathology are caught in a loop.The use of addictive substances: they try to overcome their discomfort through the moments of temporary relief they get from the consumption of addictive substances.

2. Facilitates social exclusion

The accumulation of physical behavioral complications lays the groundwork for the person to become socially isolated, either by the inability to adapt to this new situation while maintaining family or friendship ties, or by the reaction of rejection by others. This, on the other hand, also goes hand in hand with economic problems, as the person may lose the social support network available to him/her.

3. It can truncate working careers

Even those who had a good standard of living before developing these disorders, begin to have many problems to perform at work. many problems to perform in the labor market.. On the other hand, dual pathology occurs mainly in middle and lower-middle class cases, and in these situations it is even more difficult to escape from job insecurity.

4. Emotional instability

Emotional imbalances are caused by the hours that have passed since the last consumption, and by the intensity with which the symptoms of the psychological disorder are expressed at that time.

5. Problems in organizing the day

The fact that the discomfort caused by the addiction or the disorder can arise in relatively unexpected ways (and with great intensity) makes that people with dual pathology have to face difficult situations without seeing them coming, which makes it difficult for them to organize their day.This makes it difficult for them to organize the tasks of the day or week without help.

6. Possible risk of death

It should not be forgotten that the abuse of many drugs carries a risk of death by overdose. risk of death by overdose.. In addition, an altered state of consciousness can put people in very dangerous situations.

Looking for addiction treatment and psychotherapy?

In the face of dual pathology, it is very important to have therapeutic assistance and to start a process of medical and psychological treatment as soon as possible. For this reason, we invite you to contact us for this type of health problems.

At CITA Clinics we have both a multidisciplinary team of health professionals and fully equipped facilities. We offer both psychotherapy sessions and psychiatric assistance and outpatient service as well as the possibility of admission to our residential module, surrounded by nature and full of activities and leisure options, where there is continuous support and supervision by doctors, nursing staff, trainers and psychotherapists.

Bibliographical references:

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• Drake, R.E.; Mueser, K.T. (2000). Psychosocial Approaches to Dual Diagnosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 26(1): pp. 105 - 118.
• Upadhyaya, HP. (2007). Managing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the presence of substance use disorder. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68(11): pp. 23 - 30.
• Samet, S.; Nunes, E.; Hassin, D.; et al. (2006). Diagnosis of comorbid psychiatric disorders in substance users assesses with the Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders for DSM-IV. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4): pp. 689 - 696.
• Sciacca, K.; Thompson, C.M. (1996). Program Development and Integrated Treatment Across Systems for Dual Diagnosis: Mental Illness, Drug Addiction And Alcoholism, MIDAA. Journal of Mental Health Administration, 23(3): pp. 288 - 297.
• Wright, S.; Gournay, K.; Glorney, E.; Thornicroft, G. (2000). Dual diagnosis in the suburbs: prevalence, need, and in-patient service use. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 35(7): pp. 297 - 304.