Because the symptoms of alcohol or drug use can be confused with effects of psychiatric illness, addressing dual-diagnosis individuals is particularly challenging for professionals. It is a challenge to make a correct initial diagnosis when a person is demonstrating effects that are actually the result of withdrawal or other consequences of chemical dependency. In addition, psychological illness can occur as a result of untreated chemical dependence. With the concurrent multiple issues present in dual-diagnosis individuals, there is no insurance that treatment will be effective, if not counter-productive. The only way to have a chance at successful treatment is with the help of dual diagnosis treatment centers. Early entry into a program through a dual diagnosis treatment clinic is ideal.

Mental health professionals who have experience working at dual diagnosis treatment centres are the best equipped to handle the challenge of determining which symptoms come from addiction and which are existing psychiatric symptoms. Diagnosis starts with interviews with the person under-going treatment, as well as that person's family and loved ones. The knowledge gleaned from consultations assists doctors in beginning diagnosis. Extensive interviews are followed with intensive evaluation of the person's behaviors, in an attempt to identify how drug or alcohol use may be effecting everyday living. It is also imperative to analyze any negative outcomes that a potentially dual-diagnosed person's addiction has on work, school, family and friends. Proceeding from interviews and evaluation of behavior is a look into family history to find any ancestors with substance addiction or psychological problems.

Dual-diagnosis sufferers can receive effective treatment and the effects of dual-diagnosis can be managed in spite of the daunting issues and many snares related to dual-diagnosis. The first step is controlling or eliminating alcohol and drug use. A client must be treated of the effects of intoxication and withdrawal before psychological complications can be treated with effect. Once sobriety is achieved, dual diagnosis treatment centres can initiate treatment methods for the mental health issues the dual-diagnosis sufferer is battling with. Therapy used by mental health specialists can include psychiatric therapy and medication. By addressing sleep and stress management, and offering individual and group therapy, doctors will help the patient deal with mental health problems. These efforts on the part of psychologists, in addition to assistance from best friends and family, will stimulate healing from psychiatric and addictive issues.

In addition to the root problems of their dual-diagnosis, there are often medical problems occurring because of drug use that need to be taken care of before treatment can commence. The people who need treatment are usually impaired or in crisis and lack the voice to reach out to the people who can help them. They are usually without support because of conflict with loved ones, or lacking resources because of unemployment. Insufficient money can make it very hard to think about signing up at a dual diagnosis treatment center. An intimidating intimidating problem when attempting to help dual-diagnosis is that afflicted people are often unable to ask for help or seek treatment on their own.

Family and friends want to help their loved ones afflicted with dual-diagnosis, but are frustrated. Every attempt to help seems to wind up in a disaster and only make things worse. They feel rejected as their attempts to better the lives of their dual-diagnosed family lead to strong feelings of resentment. However, there are things that family members can do to help. First, relatives and buddies need to make sure that they've done everything possible to realize what their loved ones are facing and that they've done everything available to help themselves before attempting to extend help to their friend with the challenging and confusing issues of dual-diagnosis. Family members can look out for behaviors that may be a sign of relapse and assist their loved ones participate in treatment. It is often family members who are important in getting a person with dual diagnosis into dual diagnosis treatment facilities. When somebody with dual-diagnosis doesn't have the resources to enroll in a treatment clinic, the help of friends and family is often the thing that helps them to get help.

There is someone who struggles with the disease of addiction in nearly everybody's life. For a long time it was believed that undesirable actions like compulsive gambling, unsafe sex, and substance abuse was merely result of a moral deficiency. Now medical doctors know that addiction is actually an illness, and that is good news for addicts. Rather than giving addicts an excuse for their behavior, the disease model of addiction offers hope. Because of the recognition that addiction is a disease, addicts are able to find ways to recover through addiction rehab and become productive.

There are all sorts of ways that the disease of addiction can manifest. It doesn't matter what behavior a person specifically struggles with, at the core the disease is the same Maybe it seems harder for the addict participating in prostitution or crime to support a habit of heroin, than for people whose disease of addiction is quieter or easier to hide, and this is part of what can make addiction difficult for concerned friends and family to understand. The nature of addiction keeps the addicts who most need help from asking for it and seeking addiction rehabilitation. Instead, those with the disease of addiction exist in a world of desperation and isolation, hiding their challenges from everyone. Friends and family become exasperated attempting to reach out to those of suffer from addiction in their lives, but as much as they love and care for their family members or friends struggling with addiction, they lack the understanding of addiction that would enable them to make more of a difference. The disease of addiction is a treatable disease and many addicts recover, but helping the still sick and suffering addicts is not always easy.

This is a time when the people in an addict's life need to understand that they too are powerless over their loved one's disease. When an addict has run out of ways and means to get more and is ready to get help, then the friends and family who have been standing by can step in and start helping them recover. Addiction is an insidious disease and the last person to realize how bad things are is usually the addict themselves. Addicts are masters of justification, rationalization and selective memory. Many endure through tens of years of addiction while believing that it's "not that bad". Any help offered before the addict arrives at a point of desperation and reaches out for help on their own is usually futile. Recovery can begin, however, once this point of willingness is arrived at. The most helpful thing that concerned loved ones can do now is help the person they love enter an addiction rehab. (see addiction behavior)

In addition to helping addicts endure detox, staying in an addiction rehab provides addicts with many other building blocks for their recovery. Becoming a member of a recovery group within the rehab gives the person a sense of belonging and shared experience that they probably haven't felt long since their addiction began. The rehab workers provide hope and guidance, especially in counseling sessions where the addict in recovery get an opportunity to vent and explore issues that they may have kept hidden due to fear or feelings of shame. Maybe most importantly, staying in a rehab can get the addict ready to re-enter society, by exposing them to supportive groups such as 12 step fellowships.