Dual Diagnosis for Adolescents and Young Adults
Dual diagnosis services are treatments for teens and young adults who suffer from co-occurring disorders such as mental illnesses and substance abuse. Research has strongly indicated that to recover fully, a teenager or young adult with co-occurring disorders must be treated for both problems. Focusing on one issue does not ensure that the other will go away. Dual diagnosis services integrate assistance for each condition, helping people recover from both in one setting, at the same time.
What Dual Diagnosis Offers
Dual diagnosis services include different types of assistance that go beyond standard therapy or medication; assertive outreach, job and housing assistance, family counseling, even money and relationship management. The personalized treatment is viewed as long-term and can be started at whatever stage of recovery the troubled teen or troubled young adult is in. Positivity, hope, and optimism are at the foundation of integrated treatment.
Teenagers and young adults with a co-occurring disorder have a statistically greater propensity for violence, medication noncompliance, and failure to respond to treatment than teenagers or young adults with just substance abuse or a mental illness. These problems also extend out to the families, friends, and co-workers of these dual diagnosis teenagers and young adults.