If you have an addiction or are in recovery from addiction then it might be important that you learn about dual diagnosis. Many of those who suffer from addiction also have other mental health problems; it also happens that these other mental health problems go undetected. This means that even though some people manage to escape addiction they still continue to find life fairly unbearable. This need not be the situation once their emotional/ mental health problems are treated.
Dual diagnosis can occur because of two reasons; either the addiction came first or the mental health problem led to the substance abuse. In the first instance the person abusing alcohol or drugs did so to such an extent that it started to affect their mental functioning. This deterioration to their mental health likely exacerbated their substance abuse further and all this led to the development of emotional/ psychiatric problems. The presence of these other mental health problems, such as severe anxiety or depression, could make the individual even less likely to seek help with their addiction. If not treated, this two-fold problem might easily lead to death from addiction or suicide.
Dual diagnosis might also arise because of an attempt by an individual to treat the symptoms of a mental health problem through abusing alcohol or other drugs. This tactic is often successful in the beginning and allow the person to function to a high level and escape many of the otherwise debilitating aspects of their emotional/ psychiatric problem. The person may know that they have mental health problems, they might suspect it, or they might be completely unaware of it. This self-medication will likely work for a while but as time goes on more and more of the drug will be needed. A day will arrive when there is no real relief and only extra problems created by the abuse. The sufferer may still be unwilling to walk away from their addiction though because it once worked for them, and they hope for to once again do the same.
If you are now clean of drugs and booze, but still find life hard to manage then there could be a chance that you have a dual diagnosis and you owe it to yourself to get it checked out. Walking away from addiction was a great move, but it is unlikely that this in itself will be enough to fix your other mental health issues. Ignoring these other problems could lead to relapse or cause your recovery to not be the happy and productive time that it should be. Nobody enters recovery to feel miserable and you should not allow this to happen to you. Mental health treatment has developed a lot over the years and most conditions can be easily controlled. There is just no reason why you should allow your recovery to be spoilt by an untreated dual diagnosis; if you suspect it then get it checked out by a medical profession. It really could make all the difference to your future sobriety.
