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 might help a person that may possibly not have been able to be helped previously, end substance abuse by being correctly diagnosed and helped. Their mental health disorder may have been misdiagnosed, not diagnosed at all, or mistreated which could have triggered and resulted in their drug abuse problems. Establishing the reality that someone is in fact a dual diagnosis client not simply helps establish a highly effective treatment plan for them, but may also help clients better determine what triggered their substance abuse and ways to prevent it in the foreseeable future. Handling dual diagnosis might be a more extensive process than a typical drug rehab program, and people with a dual diagnosis may need to take part in an extensive aftercare program which might include appropriate medical support along with further rehab services. Being clinically determined to have co-occurring disorders doesn't mean that the individual must be medicated through out their lives either, and in fact lots of people who have a dual diagnosis experience more effective outcomes when treated holistically and when alternative treatment solutions are utilized.