In recent times, the dual diagnosis treatment programs are becoming quite popular, even as more and more areas of the world are beginning to understand the prevalence of these conditions and the needs of such programs. Simply put, dual diagnosis occurs when a patient is diagnosed with two conditions concurrently. In the addiction treatment program in Colorado, when a person is dually diagnosed, one of the conditions is the dependency on a known addictive substance (alcohol included) and the other condition is a psychiatric illness. Whenever these two problems will occur together, they will always influence each other. For that reason, the treatment program in Colorado is so altered so as to treat both these situations at once.

Until recently, addictions and psychiatric illnesses were treated differently in the state. This was, however, not providing the results that it should have. People who had a mental complication would fall back into the addiction and people who had addictions would develop mental complications. A clear example could be seen in people getting addicted to amphetamines to check their depressions. In this way, the two conditions were quite intricately interwoven with each other. For that reason, a differential mode of treatment was not proving to be of any use.

It is only lately that the dual diagnosis treatment program in Colorado has gained momentum. Here, the patients are treated concurrently by specialists for both addiction and the mental conditions. One of the first things that are analyzed during these treatment programs is whether the addiction has been brought on by the mental condition or whether the mental condition has been developed because of the addiction. Once that has been ascertained, the treatment can get a concrete format. By suppressing one of the conditions, the other can be treated. However, they need to be done simultaneously to have any effect.

If the psychiatric condition has been prevailing in the person even before the patient was hooked onto the addictive substance, it becomes difficult to treat the mental condition just by providing a detox treatment. However, if the patient has developed the mental condition due to the substance abuse, then when the addiction is treated (through a detox program), the mental condition will automatically begin to subside. Hence, understanding the patient's condition fully well at the start of the treatment becomes important. This is where the treatment providers will understand what kind of treatment must be planned for the patient.

A dual diagnosis treatment program in Colorado is considered to be successful if the patient abstains from the substance completely and also finds a solution to the psychiatric condition. For long term recovery, it is necessary that the patient gets into a maintenance medication routine that can help them keep sober for a long time during which period the psychiatric condition can be looked into.

The following is a basic pattern followed by a dual diagnosis treatment program in Colorado.

1.The first step is to get acquainted completely with the condition of the patient. This helps the treatment providers to understand the nature of the person's addiction and to plan a proper treatment program.

2.Dual diagnosis treatment programs will always include a detoxification program at the very outset. This is quite important because the patients will always be in strong conditions of addiction and their underlying mental conditions will make the treatment more difficult. It is important to remove all the toxins that are present in the body of the person by providing them with a proper detoxification treatment.

3.The main intention of the detoxification treatment is to completely purify the person's body from the accumulation of toxins. However, this is not quite easy for a patient who has a mental condition. Abstinence from the substance will cause the patient to have a withdrawal. It becomes the responsibility of the treatment providers to provide the right kind of medication in order to pull the patients out of this withdrawal process. Different people will react differently during the detox program, which will mostly depend on their own bodily conditions and the nature and extent of their addictions. For that reason, it can never be perfectly said how long the detox treatment would be.

4.Once the detox treatment is completed, the patient is led into an aftercare program. This is usually conducted with a psychiatrist in tow, who will assess the mental condition of the patient and try to formulate an appropriate treatment program. The rest of the program will be highly personal, depending on the kind of addiction the person is with and the psychiatric condition that prevails in them.