As the field of psychology continues to develop, the level of treatment that is available has become increasingly more advanced. Instead of simply focusing on one dimension of a person at a time, psychologists have placed an increasingly large emphasis on treating the whole person at once.
One of the most important movements in the world of psychology—for both teenagers and adults alike—has been the increased emphasis placed on dual diagnosis and co-occurring conditions. These practices have revolutionized the ways in which psychological treatments are administered and, consequently, have been able to yield greater results.
If you are the parent of a teenager who is currently suffering from a substance abuse disorder or any other mental health condition, you may want to look for a residential treatment center that specializes in teen depression treatment. These facilities are distinctively different than ordinary rehabilitation centers and may be the exact source of hope you’ve been looking for.
In this article, we will discuss the importance of co-occurring treatment and the many unique features of these treatments that cause them to be particularly effective. Even if you have tried rehabilitation or more traditional treatment options (such as individual therapy sessions), there are still plenty of reasons for you to believe that things can, in fact, get better.
What is co-occurring treatment?
Co-occurring treatment is an approach to psychology that seeks to address the existence of multiple different mental health conditions at the same time. In the mental health community, this almost always refers to developing treatment options for individuals who have a substance abuse disorder in addition to at least one other mental health condition.
Co-occurring treatment is important because the presence of substance abuse disorders is strongly correlated with other mental health conditions. Often times, these conditions may exacerbate one another or even be a direct cause. For example, an addiction to alcohol is likely to significantly worsen the presence of depression and, likewise, individuals who are depressed are more likely to abuse alcohol.
Through the use of co-occurring treatment options, psychologists are able to directly address the complex relationship existing between various conditions. This makes it possible to achieve significantly more comprehensive and long-lasting results—solely focusing on one issue at a time may not be enough to achieve the sort of results you are hoping for.
What is dual diagnosis? How is it different from co-occurring treatment?
The phrases dual diagnosis and co-occurring treatment are often used interchangeably. However, while these terms do describe an approach to psych treatment that is generally the same, it is important to recognize the distinctions between them.
Dual diagnosis is a relatively broader term that can be used to describe any combination of co-existing conditions. These conditions may not necessarily have anything to do with mental health; for example, the term dual diagnosis could be used to describe a treatment designed for someone who simultaneously has both heart disease and diabetes (a fairly common combination). In this instance, addressing the whole person will still be very important because these conditions may directly affect one another.
Essentially, co-occurring treatment is a more focused term that refers to treatment modalities designed to specifically address the coexistence of a substance abuse disorder alongside another mental health condition. In other words, though dual diagnosis could accurately describe the treatments used for these situations, co-occurring treatment is a bit more specific.
What are some of the common conditions that co-occurring treatment can address?
As stated, the purpose of using co-occurring treatment is to help individuals suffering from substance abuse disorders alongside one or more mental health condition. Substance abuse disorders can manifest themselves in a variety of different forms including addictions to alcohol, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, and other abusable substances.
Substance abuse is often the direct cause of mental health conditions or, in some cases, may be the reason that a mental health condition has gotten worse. Here are some of the conditions that are commonly (though not exclusively) associated with substance abuse disorders:
- Depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder
- Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and psychosis
- Eating disorders and sleep disorders
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Various other mental health conditions
Clearly, if an individual hopes to sustain any real progress they’ve made along the long road to recovery, they will need to address everything that they are struggling with, rather than trying to isolate these issues.
Why is co-occurring treatment superior to traditional rehabilitation?
Often times when a parent sees their teenager suffering from a substance abuse disorder, their first instinct will be to send them to a traditional rehabilitation center. However, whether their stay at the rehab center is for one day, several days, or significantly longer, the progress they make there will likely not be sustained unless the root cause of the disorder has been adequately addressed.
If a substance abuse disorder has been triggered by the presence of some other underlying condition—as is frequently the case—then any treatment that only addresses the substance abuse issue is considered to be a Band-Aid, rather than an actual solution. Simply isolating an individual from abusable substances for a few days will likely not create results that last. Successful treatment will require equipping them with the ability to manage themselves once the temptations to engage in substance abuse inevitably emerge in the future.
What are the objectives of co-occurring treatment?
One of the reasons that co-occurring treatments have been found to be so exceptionally successful is the fact that these treatments are able to offer a focused effort to heal the whole person at once. By having a clear set of objectives to work with, individuals who have undergone treatment have found they are able to sustain their results once they have left the facility.
Here are some of the most commonly cited objectives of co-occurring treatment:
- Properly treat the whole person at once, rather than simply focusing on one aspect at a time
- Equip the individuals with the skills to manage various sources of adversity and temptation in the future
- Understand the relationship between substance abuse and other mental health disorders
- Develop a comprehensive, long-term treatment plan that is tailored to the patient’s unique set of needs
- Achieve results that not only help the individual function better in the short-term, but also function better for the rest of their life
Overall, this innovative form of treatment is effective, highly-customizable, and able to achieve results where other approaches to treatment could not.
Conclusion
Co-occurring treatment is a focused form of dual diagnosis that seeks to simultaneously address the presence of substance abuse disorders alongside other mental health conditions. This approach to treatment has recently become significantly more popular in residential treatment centers and other mental health clinics that seek to address the whole person at once. By taking the time to learn about this unique treatment philosophy, you may be able to provide your teenager with the specific sort of help that they need.
