Dual Diagnosis Dual Diagnoses are important since they encompass more than just one disorder and aid in the individual’s treatment. The use of psychiatric disorders and the understanding of substance dependency is indispensable in diagnostic reliability. This paper will display the complexity of dual diagnosis in the case of Jerome, as well as the specific symptoms that indicate to more than one disorder for Jerome.
Complexity of Dual Diagnosis
Jerome is an African American male, forty-eight years of age, and identified as gay for his sexual orientation. He has a history of being homeless and has been addicted to crack cocaine for the last twenty years. During his interview has stated that he has not used crack for three days. He seems
…show more content…
Many times symptoms will also be over looked as a part of the dependency. This confusion is a complexity in dual diagnosis in clients like Jerome who have a mental illness that “seem to be extremely heterogenous in terms of the variety of substances that they abuse and that clinical decisions must be based on a careful examination of each client's diagnosis and specific use of substances”(Polcin,1992).The counselor must be certain in what is a substance abuse symptoms and what is a mental illness symptom, but also how each symptom may impact the other. Another complexity of dual diagnosis seen in the case of Jerome and in low income areas is that “some mental health programs deny access to people with active substance abuse problems, while chemical dependency providers may refuse to treat those taking prescribed psychiatric medications”(Mancuso,1991). This leads many places to not treat dual diagnosis and not treating the total problem. Individuals who do not seek treatment will often end up in jail because of their behavior, instead of getting the treatment they need for their dual