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Medical Care for Individuals with Dual Diagnosis
Similarly, to other individuals in the society, individuals with mental issues require frequent preventive care, regular medical care, and specialized care if they suffer from chronic conditions. Individuals with psychiatric issues are potentially at risk of experiencing medical issues as a result of inadequate medical care, inefficient healthcare behavior and the side effects of the psychiatric drugs. The analysis focuses on some of the issues that might affect individuals suffering from dual diagnosis with regards to health and care and the type of care that the individuals require for them to lead quality lives.
Individuals with severe mental illnesses are viewed to possess substance abuse disorder and hence dual diagnosis. A problem with the diagnosis is that substance abuse is often underreported and hence not handled as expected when compared to the care accorded to mental illnesses (Corrigan et al. 331). Also, the outcomes of individuals with dual diagnosis tend to be adverse when compared to those diagnosed with mental illness alone. Examples include victimization, hospitalization, relapsing, incarceration, violence, homelessness and acquiring lasting infections such as HIV/AIDS (Corrigan et al. 332). Therefore, for them to lead quality lives, preventive measures have to be put in place to limit the occurrence of substance abuse behavior in addition to mor…