A dual diagnosis occurs when a patient with a mood disorder such as depression also suffers from alcohol or drug abuse. The depression and substance abuse problems may need separate treatment, but under the same plan, as the patient undergoes therapy. A treatment plan usually developed by health care professionals or mental health specialists can help people overcome their disorders.
Identification
People or their loved ones can benefit from professional help by knowing the symptoms of depression. Feelings of sadness, which includes crying often, may accompany feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and guilt. People suffering from depression may experience worry or anxiety, irritability and anger. Difficulty in concentrating or making decisions may arise. Depressed patients may develop an attitude of pessimism or indifference, and they may think that nothing is worth doing because it will not come out right. Depression may also cause physical symptoms, including unexplained aches and pains or a loss of energy. Patients pay little attention to activities or social events they once enjoyed. Depression also brings on thoughts of death or suicide.
Self Medication
More than half of the people with depression also use alcohol or drugs, according to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. The intense sadness or hopelessness associated with depression may cause people to drink alcohol or use drugs to feel better for a short time. The temporary effects from self medication eventually wear off and make people with depression feel worse. Self medication with drugs or alcohol can also mask the underlying problem of depression, which makes treatment difficult.
Substance Effects
Sometimes alcohol or drug abuse lead to depression. This may start in adolescence or in the teen years and develop into mental illness during adulthood, according to Mental Health America. The primary problem may be difficult for doctors to determine. Although doctors pay equal attention to each disorder to provide recovery and improvement, treatment is usually done simultaneously for a lasting recovery, Mental Health America says. Treating one illness at a time is less effective because one disorder can make the other illness worse.
Considerations
In some cases, the substance abuse problem needs to be treated first when the patient goes through withdrawal symptoms, which may include receiving medication for the physical effects that occur after abstinence. Once this detoxification process from drugs or alcohol is successful, the patient can continue with an overall treatment plan for depression and substance abuse.
Treatment
Treatment may include counseling, support groups and medication. A patient may work with a recovery group for alcohol or drug abuse and also have treatment through psychotherapy to cope with depression. The substance abuse therapy may include a 12-step program similar to procedures set down by Alcoholics Anonymous, or another program that encourages living without addictive substances. Therapy from a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor or therapist may include talking about depression and the reasons the patient drinks or abuses drugs. Medication for depression helps balance brain chemicals that affect mood and does not cause the fluctuations experienced during drug or alcohol abuse, according to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.
