Addiction is very rarely an isolated disease. On the contrary, substance abuse is often associated with a wide range of related psychological disorders, which is why dual diagnosis is so important to the healing process. Dual diagnosis techniques allow rehab experts to evaluate the full scope of an addict’s physical and emotional health, thereby laying the groundwork for a holistic and comprehensive rehabilitation program. In the end, there’s no other way for healing to happen.

The practical implication here is that you have to find a rehab center that can meet each and every one of your individual needs. Addiction treatment is an exceptionally delicate art form. It can only succeed if it’s done the right way, and dual diagnosis has to be part of the process. For your own sake, let today be the day you start learning the truth on your own terms.

To be bipolar is to live one’s life between two injurious extremes. Bipolar disorder, also called bipolar depression or manic depression, is characterized by drastic mood swings, between dizzying highs on the one hand and withering lows on the other. Bipolar patients never no peace, or stability. On the contrary, they’re subject to overwhelming forces which are largely beyond their conscious control…which of course explains why so many manic depressives turn to drugs and alcohol for support.

The incidence of drug and alcohol addiction among bipolar victims leaves no question as to the correlation between the two diseases. Bipolar patients are, simply stated, predisposed to addiction, and addicts are very often subject to underlying psychological illnesses. As should perhaps go without saying, the two conditions must be treated in tandem where they exist in tandem. And that’s why dual diagnosis is so important to the addiction recovery process.

Dual diagnosis is that process by which addicts are screened for psychiatric diseases before beginning drug and alcohol rehabilitation. If you’re an addict suffering from bipolar disorder, you can’t get better without that kind of thorough care. What that means, in a practical sense, is that you have to find an addiction treatment facility that can give you call the support you need. Given the stakes in the fight against substance abuse, you’d be a fool to settle for anything less.

Addiction is both a physical and a psychological disease. What that means, in the most practical sense, is that addiction treatment has to promote both physical and psychological healing. That’s why Dual diagnosis is that process by which an addict’s mental and emotional well-being is assessed in conjunction with his physical drug dependency. In the end, there’s simply no other way for drug and alcohol rehab to go forward.

Successful rehabilitation must be holistic in scope. There are no partial victories in a rehab center. If you’re going to get better, you’re going to have to get all-the-way better, in body as well as in mind, in spirit as well as in substance. Dual diagnosis is an essential part of that process. Rehab facilities that offer it to their patients really can help them get sober. Those that don’t, can’t. Please, for your own sake, don’t force yourself to learn that lesson the hard way.

Depression treatment is most successful when it’s holistic in scope. Depression, after all, is a disease with both physical and psychological origins, and effective depression recovery must entail both physical and psychological healing. On the one hand, depressives are subject to neurological chemical imbalances, which are in part responsible for the crushing emotional lows associated with the disease. At the same time, depression victims are prone to negative thought and behavioral patters, which can exacerbate the impact of their illness. Only by addressing both of these roots can depression treatment promote real and meaningful wellness.

Note too that depression treatment is often a vital part of a drug treatment program. Depressives often turn to substance abuse as a mechanism of self-medication, and cannot be expected to get sober without first achieving substantive depression recovery. Given the stakes in the fight against addiction, anything less simply won’t cut it.

If you or someone you care about is a victim of depression or bipolar depression, bipolar disorder leaves patients prone to terrifying emotional highs and crushing emotional lows. To be bipolar is to live life ever on the cusp of two extremes, impossibly far removed from anything that might ever be called stability. Given that sort of trauma, it’s no surprise that many bipolar depressives to turn drug and alcohol addiction as a means of self-medication. And it’s no surprise that drug and alcohol treatment has to include therapy for bipolar disorder where appropriate.

Addiction always has a cause. Addicts very often suffer from underlying psychiatric conditions, which must themselves be eradicated before addiction recovery can go forward. As should perhaps go without saying, drug and alcohol rehab can only be successful if it heals patients from the inside-out. With so much to lose, and so much more to win, you can’t afford anything less than the most thorough care you can get.

Bipolar depression, also called bipolar disorder or manic depression, can be a devastating disease. To be a victim of bipolar disorder is to be trapped between two distinct and debilitating psychological states. On the one hand, bipolar depressives are subject to the withering lows commonly associated with classical clinical depression. On the other, they’re prone to bouts of sustained mania, characterized by both physiological and cognitive agitation. It is obviously not the kind of life anyone would want to live. And that’s why so many bipolar depressives resort to drug and alcohol abuse.

Drugs and alcohol can mitigate the highs and lows of bipolar depression. The only catch, of course, is that they’re an inherently self-destructive solution to the problem. Bipolar depressives who’ve fallen victim to drug and alcohol abuse, then, need two kinds of help, the first to address their substance habits and the second to address their psychiatric states. Only with such dual diagnosis and holistic care can bipolar addicts expect to get sober for good. Anything less simply isn’t good enough.

As should perhaps go without saying, it’s not easy to live with manic depression. The disease, also referred to as bipolar disorder or bipolar depression, is characterized by marked and unpredictable mood swings. A manic depressive is subject to dizzying highs and crushing lows, and will generally do anything he or she can to achieve emotional stability. That, in a nutshell, is why manic depression is so often linked to drug abuse. And that’s why drug treatment can only be successful it includes comprehensive psychological therapy.

If you or someone you care about is a manic depressive with a drug problem, you need addiction treatment that addresses both issues. In fact, a rehab program which fails to account for a patient’s manic depression is necessarily doomed to fail. The practical implication, then, is that you have to research you options before choosing a rehab center. The place that’s right for you is the one that can give you all the care you need. For your own sake, for the sake of the people who care about….don’t settle for anything less than that.

Addiction is a disease that rarely occurs in isolation. In fact, the majority of addicts also suffer from some form of psychological malady, foremost among them depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorder. Successful addiction treatment is that which addresses both addiction and any disorders associated with it, which is why dual diagnosis is so important in the substance abuse recovery process. Dual diagnosis embraces a holistic vision of substance abuse rehabilitation, one that emphasizes healing the entire addict instead of merely addressing his or her symptoms. In the end, anything less than that just isn’t good enough.

If you or someone you care about is a victim of addiction, dual diagnosis may well be the last best chance you’ve got. The good news is that Cliffside Malibu is here to help. Our luxury rehab center has a record of success that speaks for itself. All you have to do is find the courage to listen. Please, for your own sake, call Cliffside Malibu today at 1-800-501-1988. Even the most exclusive drug and alcohol treatment facility in California can’t help a patient who refuses to be helped. For your own sake, don’t force yourself to learn that lesson the hard way.

As part of Cliffside Malibu’s intensive treatment program, there is a high priority placed on individual therapy with sessions being offered up to five times per week. The therapists at Cliffside Malibu have extensive experience in the areas of dual diagnosis, recognizing that there are core issues underlying addiction and there are often concurrent disorders that need to be treated.

Among Cliffside Malibu’s therapists are eating disorder specialists, trauma recovery specialists, and dual diagnosis and addiction experts.

For individuals suffering from eating disorders, individualized treatment is offered, and the therapist works with the client on a daily basis to address the following:

Core issues underlying the eating disorder

Past trauma

Therapeutic approaches to address common dynamics of perfectionism, fear and control

Relationships with family and significant others

Redefining the relationship with food

Addressing body image issues, correcting cognitive distortions, maladaptive thoughts and negative belief systems

Redefining the relationship with the body

Learning coping strategies and grounding methods to deal with triggers and impulses through ground-breaking dialectical behavior therapy techniques, cognitive-behavioral interventions and process work, all based on a foundation of unconditional positive regard and strength-based support and motivation between therapist and client

Developing meal plans

Check-ins and monitoring before, after and during meals

Narrative work and food journaling exercises

Nutritional counseling

Acupuncture, yoga and fitness experts work with clients to build the mind-body connection and to facilitate and promote a healthy relationship with mind, body and food

Family sessions, couple sessions, group sessions

There is a unique opportunity in the serene and healing setting of Cliffside Malibu for the therapist to see the client at their most difficult times, for example during a meal, and the therapist serves as a source of comfort and a guiding presence for many situations.

Maximum structure and protection are provided to clients upon admission and with our extended care program there is the opportunity for clients to gain greater responsibility and freedom with options to go on passes with significant others and alone to practice their new skills in their lives and the community.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy uses an active collaboration with the client and the therapist to identify thought processes that promote unhealthy outcomes. Very often individuals make assumptions and absolute statements about themselves, relationships and their environment. Frequently these thoughts are “cognitive distortions”—unrealistic appraisals of what is actually transpiring. The alcohol/drug dependent person often begins using because of these “distortions,” which often worsen as their addiction progresses. With the help of our therapists individuals can identify these faulty patterns of thinking, which often support the same negative outcomes. As the individual learns the tools of “thought stopping” and “cognitive restructuring” they replace negative automatic thoughts with more positive and life affirming thoughts.