INFORMATION SERVICE
FOR THOSE AFFECTED: PRACTICAL ADVICE
If you have come to our website is probably because you are not going through a good time at the moment. Sometimes we suffer and drugs soothe us. Other times, we wish to enjoy ourselves and drugs end up making us suffer. In many occasions and after actively consuming it for a while (it doesn’t have to be everyday, of course) people might say we are acting odd, daring or very aggressive, or very sad and apathetic. People say it, we can feel it, but we feel more and more lonely as time goes by…
If you are undergoing something similar, you need to get in contact with a treatment centre. You could ask for help directly to your GP or you could get in contact with a Drug Addiction Assistance Centre (in Madrid, CAD or CAID). You could also call us and we will put you in contact with a treatment centre. If you would prefer the latter, please call us on 91 323 15 55.
In any case, let us give you some advice:
- If you look for professional help, you have to tell them everything that is happening to you. Don’t worry about how strange or unpleasant that is. Moreover, you know that we professionals have the obligation (and the desire) to keep everything you tell us confidential.
- The professional who deals with you will carry out a brief interview and will put you in contact with other professionals you must see. At the beginning, it might seem a pain, but having a whole team of professionals at your disposal is the best treatment option.
- It is likely that you might have to start taking medication. It is essential that you follow to the point the medication process given to you. If, for any reason (sometimes it happens), you feel side effects, don’t stop taking the medication by yourself: call your professional and ask him/her to see you as soon as possible and tell him/her your feelings and problems with the medication.
- As well as the medication, the professional might recommend you do other things: don’t think they are annoying (even though at the beginning they might seem so). Following what the professionals tell you is the other essential half to the treatment (we promise it works!)
-Ah! And don’t forget, having psychological problems is something that happens to many people nowadays (not only to those who take drugs). Not everyone that goes to see a doctor is going to die, and so not all of those who go the see a psychologist or psychiatrist are mad (maybe madness doesn’t exist, or even worse, maybe we are all mad…)
- Anyway, if you are not sure whether to go or not to a professional, you must go. S/he will help you decide if you need treatment or not, and s/he will recommend the best option for you.
- And, something very important: ASSISTANCE IS FREE AND ITS AIM IS TO HELP YOU.
FOR FAMILY MEMBERS: TOPICS OF INTEREST
If you are a family member of someone affected by Dual Diagnosis, and you have found our Website, you are probable tired of looking for answers for the problem you have at home, and you haven’t come across a satisfactory answer yet.
Or even worse, you have found other websites where they mention the terrible prognosis for this type of patients, their lack of involvement with the treatment or the difficulty in dealing with them. That is totally negative information that won’t help you improve your situation.
That is why our approach is totally different: we want to offer you realistic information about the situation of patients with dual diagnosis, but we start by reminding you that every case is different and that, in that sense, there is a huge variety of personal, familiar and social situations which will account for totally different responses to the treatment.
That is why, the first thing you must take into account is that not all patients with Dual Diagnosis respond badly to the treatment (if it was impossible to deal with them clinically and psychosocially, we would have given up in our efforts to develop our projects a long time ago!).
Even though we will give you some general indications, the most important thing is that you receive customized attention. In order to do so, you could go to the normal first point of contact for the public health (your GP clinic) to speak to your doctor.
You could also visit any of the Centres for Drug Addicts Assistance (in Madrid, CAD or CAID). Or, if you prefer, you could contact us directly on 91 323 15 55 and we will put you in contact with a treatment resource.
With regards to dealing with patients with Dual Diagnosis within the living arrangements you must take several things into account:
- It is essential that the patient receives specialized treatment. If s/he refuses to do so, the correct strategies would have to be developed (preferably, with the help of a professional) in order to encourage her/him to strictly follow the treatment. In order to do this, we could start with negotiation strategies, and, if there is no other way, we must develop compulsory pressures.
- Once under treatment, the appointments, medication and occupational activities must be followed without any excuse (specially the appointments and medication).
- It is very important to reach abstinence and psychiatric stabilisation as soon as possible. In order to attain this, professionals will advise you about alternatives which, in cases of extreme severity, might lead to involuntary psychiatric admissions. These types of possibilities might make us feel guilty and, sometimes, we end up rejecting them: that would be a serious mistake, all type of therapeutical advice given to us by a professional, would help improve our family environment.
- On the other hand, we know that cohabitation is complicated and, logically, living with a dual patient is also so. If we want to keep a cohabitation environment minimally acceptable, it is essential that we respect basic living rules: respect, acceptance of consensus rules, cooperation inside the house, etc.
- In no case should we consent or justify in basis of the illness, the following circumstances: serious lack of respect, physical aggression, threats, or drug consumption inside the house. Not to apply consequences to that type of behaviour would only bring more problems (and this is always the case).
- At the same time, it is important to remember something: if the patient is of age and is not disabled, we have to treat him as an adult and we must demand from him the same as we do from any adult with problems: he is not a very stupid, stupid man or a very clever, clever man (if he was that clever, he wouldn’t have reached the point he is at now).
- Lastly, regardless of whether we manage to do it or not, that is, that our family member takes the treatment, it is our right to be assisted by a professional (and sometimes, as well as advice, we will also need psychological support).
FOR PROFESSIONALS: GENERAL TECHNICAL CRITERIA
Even though at our website there is a clear predominance of technical content (occupational habit, probably) we would like to highlight that one of our main sources of demand for advice are professionals, who ask us about punctual interventions with especially complicated dual patients. In this sense, we are at your disposal by phone, 91 323 15 55.
Later on, we will explain what the minimum necessary requirements to start treatment are. At this point, you would notice that it is essential to reach abstinence, without it, it is technically impossible to deliver an adequate psychopathological diagnosis and, it is equally impossible to design an adequate individual intervention.
In order to do this, and in many occasions, we will need to deploy huge technical efforts which will be supported by other team members or even by the management team of our centre. We will also need to fit in the family involvement to encourage an adequate cooperation.
Frequently, and specially with patients with an Axis II disorder, we will feel frustrated and discouraged, but it is essential to keep in mind that we cannot put at risk a therapeutical process because of professional fatigue. At the same time, we will have to learn to distinguish between the real symptoms of a pathology, and the pathological game within a therapeutical relationship.
We will come across many nuances throughout the intervention which will make it necessary to constantly review the therapeutical approach and, sometimes, that will lead us to ask for help outside. If that is the case, we will be at your disposal.
