What is the treatment of dual pathology like?

These are the main characteristics of effective treatment of dual pathology.

Dual pathology is a very serious physical and mental health problem, since it combines at least two disorders capable of rapidly eroding the well-being of the person and even his or her social and family relationships.

For this reason, it is essential to seek professional help as soon as possible, initiating a treatment that allows to reverse the existing disorders in the person's daily life and prevent the problems that could arise in the future if they are not remedied. In this article we will see what are the characteristics of this treatment of the dual pathology..

Characteristics of the dual pathology

Dual pathology is a phenomenon that encompasses a wide variety of mental health problems; fundamentally, it is a combination of an addictive disorder, on the one hand, and a psychological disorder, on the other. the combination of an addictive disorder on the one hand and a psychological disorder on the other.. Thus, within this concept it is possible to find health complications as different as a mixture of alcoholism and bipolar disorder, or heroin addiction and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc.

In addition, it can occur either that the addiction has been facilitated or triggered by the psychological disorder (as a way of "compensating" in a maladaptive way the discomfort generated by the psychopathology) or that the psychological disorder has been caused by the addiction (as a disruptive element in the emotional balance of the person), or even both complications can arise in parallel due to a common cause (for example, a traumatic situation linked to the sudden death of a loved one).

Why is dual pathology a problem?

Although, as we have seen, this category includes a Wide range of disorders, there are some characteristics that make dual pathology a problem, there are some characteristics that make dual pathology a very serious health problem that goes beyond the sum of its pathologies, understood as separate disorders. understood as separate disorders. Let us see what they are.

1. Promotes emotional instability

The combination of the psychological disorder and the addictive disorder causes the person to experience frequent mood swings, since the discomfort caused by the relative lack of drugs in the body is compounded by problems in managing the emotions associated with it. to the discomfort caused by the relative lack of drugs in the organism is added the problems to manage the emotions linked to it.. In this way, the "easy way out" that remains to the person is to continue consuming drugs to alleviate the discomfort even if it is only for the moment.

2. It requires a more complete treatment

Although this by itself is not a problem for the well-being of those who suffer dual pathology is a factor that Some do not decide to urgently seek the health care help they need, which contributes to the fact that their state of health is not as good as it should be.This contributes to the deterioration of their state of health the more time passes.

3. Promotes impulsivity

Dual pathology usually has a greater capacity to lead the person to extreme situations in which he/she feels that what is happening to him/her is overwhelming. situations in which he/she feels that what is happening to him/her overwhelms him/her, making it easier for him/her to give in to impulses, at the cost of his/her health and social relationships.This makes it easier for them to give in to their impulses, at the expense of their health and social relationships.

4. It can even facilitate death by overdose.

In those cases in which the person's capacity for reasoning or interpretation of reality is altered by the psychological disorder, death by overdose can occur due to the inability to predict the consequences of consuming too high a dose of the substance, or of mixing certain drugs..

How effective is the treatment of dual pathology?

We will now explain the main characteristics of an effective treatment for dual pathology, based on the principles of the NIDA (National Institute of Drug Abuse), which are used by teams specialized in mental health and addictions.

1. Treatment should be focused on the well-being of the whole person.

Intervention should not be focused only on the addiction or only on the psychological disorder, but should be should have the ultimate goal of significantly improving the patient's quality of life..

However, it is important to take into account the different diagnoses that may be affecting the patient, and to apply the therapies that have been shown to be effective against these disorders, while still providing personalized treatment.

2. Treatment must be monitored and evaluated

The assessment phase does not only take place at the beginning of the intervention to see what problems are affecting the person; a constant evaluation must be carried out to detect any progress made, or lack thereof, in order to be able to make corrections at any stage of the treatment.

3. The involvement of the family should be sought

As far as possible, it is crucial to establish a fluid channel of communication with the patient's family members and to encourage their involvement in the patient's recovery. to encourage their involvement in the recovery of the patient's health, both by giving themIt is crucial to establish a fluid communication channel with the patient's relatives and to encourage their involvement in the patient's recovery, both by giving them indications on what they should not do to avoid harming his or her progress, and by giving them guidelines for supporting the person in the domestic sphere.

4. Resources of medicine and psychotherapy should be used.

It is not necessary to adopt a closed and dogmatic vision about which perspective best explains the person's dual pathology problem.If it is possible to combine pharmacological and psychotherapeutic resources to obtain better results and contribute to the improvement of health over time, they should be used (of course, always with professional support, not through self-medication or "self-diagnosis" by the patient).

5. Detoxification is only one of the phases of treatment.

If we only focus on detoxification, soon after the drug has been eliminated from the person's body, he/she will use again, relapsing again and again.

It is therefore essential to focus not only on the problem posed by the presence of psychoactive substances in the person's nervous system, but also on the problem of the drug's presence in the person's nervous system. intervene also in their patterns of behavior, thinking, emotion management and socialization.. Part of the therapy is medical, and part is psychotherapeutic, training the person to better modulate their actions, their feelings, their way of communicating and resolving conflicts, etc.

6. It is necessary to prepare the person to detect risky behaviors and trap thoughts.

If the person is not trained to quickly detect situations that make it easier for him/her to relapse or for his/her emotional balance to be greatly altered, he/she will be more vulnerable to dual pathology, he/she will be more vulnerable to dual pathology.

Therefore, part of the treatment consists of metacognitive training, making the patient learn about his own mental processes from a distanced perspective and as objective as possible (although without losing sight of his goals and what he is interested in to maintain a good quality of life).

7. The therapeutic alliance is fundamental

Therapy is not limited to providing textual information (expressed in spoken or written form) and medical resources (e.g., psychopharmaceuticals). (such as psychotropic drugs). Beyond this sender-receiver logic, it is essential to take care of the therapeutic relationship, so that the patient's involvement is facilitated and the patient explains what is happening to him/her in an honest way, although without losing professionalism on the part of the clinical staff (technically, therapists are not friends and should not aspire to be so, in order to really help the people they treat).

Do you need to count on therapeutic support for dual pathology?

If you want to start a therapy process applied to dual pathology or an addiction problem, we invite you to contact us. In

Llaurant la Llum we specialize in the treatment of addictive disorders, offering both outpatient support and health and psychological assistance through the intervention through admissions in our fully equipped residential module (and prepared for short, medium and long term stays). You will find us in Picassent (Valencia).