Dual Recovery
Dual recovery is a term that refers to those of us who have substance abuse problems. Very often, we begin to use drugs or alcohol (or other addictive substances or behaviors.) to deal with side effects of the psychiatric medications we’re on or with our own feelings. Those of us in dual recovery can face a harder time than people who only deal with substance abuse. What can happen is that our symptoms can worsen when the substance abuse ends. While this does not always happen, it can. It can become a cycle, where the symptoms that had been medicated by substances become worse in recovery. Relapse is a common problem for this reason. But in time, staying sober from our substance of choice will become much easier. It can seem very unfair to have to deal with worsening symptoms and with early sobriety at the same time. Often, traditional 12-step meetings do not address psychiatric symptoms. There are dual recovery groups available, where it is okay to talk about our addiction and our symptoms. But even though those of us who have substance abuse problems face “double trouble,” the only way to create a life worth living is for us to persevere in our recovery. In time, our symptoms will calm down, once we get used to living without substances.
Precisely BECAUSE we as consumers who are dually-diagnosed have a harder time, we need to have very positive thoughts and energy, even more so than someone who is not a consumer. It is essential that we believe we can recover. Any doubts that we have will tend to magnify our symptoms, so STAY POSITIVE and believe in yourself!
Very few people get better in a vacuum, so some support and treatment is required in most cases. This is true both for those with only substance-abuse problems, and for those of us who are dually diagnosed. There are some dual-diagnosis halfway houses and residential treatment programs. There are day treatment programs for dually diagnosed people as well. There are Dual Recovery meetings which are based on the Twelve Steps. There is SMART recovery, which is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based. Whether we believe addiction is a disease or not, some form of treatment works far better than doing it on your own!