The numbers of dual-diagnosis patients, meaning that they have more than one serious diagnosis, are increasing dramatically. Can these patients really be called dual-diagnosis when they have more than two co-occurring conditions? Should we refer to them as having multi-diagnoses? It is not uncommon for a patient to admit with not only substance abuse, an eating disorder, but also post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and accompanying anxiety.

Previously the conventional way of thinking was to treat the substance abuse first, then address the eating disorder. It has been long believed that all co-occurring conditions need to be treated at the same time. If all the conditions are not treated at the same time, treatment outcomes are usually poor, and what would ordinarily be considered a small slip can turn into a cascading event php program rehab Georgetown, almost like a house of cards, with one slip triggering another one rapidly.

A strong connection between eating disorders and substance abuse has been long evident with a majority of women reporting binge eating and/or bulimia nervosa along with the substance abuse. Some 40-50% of all women who have an eating disorder will have a problem with alcohol and drugs either currently or at some time in their lives. The eating disorder

Php program rehab Georgetown and substance abuse are frequently accompanied with PTSD.

In a recent piece of research by L. R. Cohen, S. F. Greenfield, S. Gordon, T. Killeen, Y. Jiang, and D. Hien, Survey of Eating Disorder Symptoms among Women in Treatment for Substance Abuse, the investigation found that in women with co-occurring substance abuse disorders and PTSD, a little more than one-third of the women were binge eaters as well. The women who were binge eaters had higher eating disorder, PTSD, and depressive symptomatology than those women in the non- eating disordered group. Researchers also found that progress in the binge-eating group was much slower. It stands to reason that the relapse rate would also be higher with the binge eaters.

The researchers said that the women with an eating disorder responded differently to group treatment than did the PTSD and substance abuse group. They recommended highly individualized treatment plans.

I am always reading journal articles that report new research in eating disorders, substance abuse, and PTSD, and I found that the greater the severity of childhood trauma and PTSD or Disorder of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS), the earlier the onset of alcoholism and related problems. When any patient admits to a treatment program with dual-or multiple diagnoses, testing for PTSD and trauma should always be in the initial battery of tests (Dom, G., De Wilde, B., Hulstijn, W., Sabbe, B. Traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress disorders: differences between treatment-seeking early- and late-onset alcoholic patients.)

Complex trauma is the type of trauma that is associated with childhood trauma that is usually ongoing. There is another type of trauma that can be traced to a single event, such as a war experience, automobile accident, etc. When a client has PTSD with an eating disorder, the trauma is generally complex trauma. Specific protocols are available for complex trauma.