Dual diagnosis is a circumstance whereby two independent disorders are present, and most often describes a co-occurring drug abuse and mental health disorder. A dual diagnosis can help someone who may possibly not have been capable of being helped before, stop substance abuse because they can be properly diagnosed and helped. Their mental health disorder may have been misdiagnosed, not diagnosed at all, or mistreated which may have prompted and resulted in their drug or alcohol use problems. Establishing the reality that someone is certainly a dual diagnosis client not only helps establish an efficient treatment course for them, but can also help clients better determine what caused their drug use and the way to prevent it in the foreseeable future. Handling dual diagnosis might be a more extensive process than the usual typical drug rehab program, and people who have a dual diagnosis may need to participate in an extensive aftercare program which may include proper medical support in addition to continued treatment services. Being identified as having co-occurring disorders doesn't mean that the person must be medicated for the rest of their lives either, and in fact a lot of people with a dual diagnosis experience much better outcomes when treated holistically and when alternative treatment methods are utilized.