This is a response to Payne’s and Elrod’s posts in the context of the video presentation as well as Harold Doweiko’s Concepts of Chemical Dependency.
Shaqueena Payne defines ‘dual diagnosis’ as ‘someone suffering from both… alcohol addiction and a co-occurring psychiatric illness…’. According to Payne, the disorder is characterized by high and low mood swings. By, juxtaposing this with what Doweiko writes in his chapter 24 that dual diagnosis is a situation, not a person, in which the patient is found to suffer from two conditions: Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and mental illness. This new condition could be Therefore, Payne’s view seeks to define what a ‘dual diagnosis patient’ is. In the previous chapter, 23, Doweiko (2011, p. 307) outlines how these conditions make family relationships complex. It appears that from what Doweiko writes, duals diagnosis poses a serious health challenge because it is difficult to determine the signs of the psychiatric illness and those of SUD.
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Elrod’s post confirms the fact that ‘dual diagnosis’ can be a very difficult condition to understand. It requires exquisite skills, and perhaps experience, to differentiate between SUD and mental illness. The video presentation contains some important insights similar to Elrod’s views. The post gives detailed view and adequate evidence of SUD and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although the post does not contain much personal views, it effectively summarizes the dichotomy between SUD’s and mental illnesses. In this view, mere drugs may not be a reliable cure for the condition. On the contrary, intensive psychotherapy is considered as the most helpful effort to contain it. These views are also echoed in Doweiko’s chapter 19 recommends outreach programs for containing Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) among the elderly (p. 257) and chapter 20 where he recommends keen observation of the biopsychosocial problems of the adolescents (p. 280).