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In dual diagnosis treatment, the challenge of overcoming stigma is a necessary step on the road to recovery. When the stigma of co-occurring disorders (dual diagnosis) combines with past trauma, recovery is not an easy path to walk. Therefore, as both mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) professionals, the clinical team at Tarzana Treatment Centers (TTC) makes dual diagnosis treatment a priority.

In American society, patients with substance use disorders or mental health disorders often face stigma from their communities and sometimes even their medical providers. Indeed, healthcare settings are not free of stigma, and this reality is vital to accept and recognize.

As a provider of integrated healthcare services, TTC makes a concerted effort to educate staff members about stigma and how it affects patients. The goal is to ensure that patients receive compassionate treatment without stigma. When it comes to dual diagnosis treatment, this goal is doubly essential.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment and Stigma

Stigma in a multitude of forms is more common than people imagine. Stigmatization is a protective biological function where the individual rejects what is “other.” In a sense, stigmatization is part of the survival instinct that protects people from the threat of strangers and outsiders. Although such a mechanism made sense when people lived in hostile environments, it has no place in healthcare. In dual diagnosis treatment, a patient is frightened of being stigmatized on multiple fronts.

In examining the origins of stigma in The Psychiatric Times, Dr. Ronald W. Pies recommends using our brains “to think and feel our way out of that mindset, and to behave with compassion and decency.” Thus, patients should not be identified by their disorder but as individuals with personal histories and stories. By employing listening techniques that are empathetic and nonjudgmental, medical providers can avoid the pitfalls of a stigmatized reaction. Instead, they offer a caring response to a patient in crisis.

At TTC, the initial biopsychosocial assessment at the start of treatment helps to achieve this goal. The assessment looks at the challenges individually, allowing the patient to understand treatment goals and objectives. By addressing co-occurring disorders at this stage in dual diagnosis treatment, recognition and understanding replace the fear of stigma. Hence, patients are treated like human beings in recovery.

Nonstigmatizing Language in Dual Diagnosis Treatment

If a clinician wants to develop a positive relationship with the patient, nonstigmatizing language from the outset is essential. After all, what we say affects other people. Using nonstigmatizing language demonstrates care and compassion for patients in dual diagnosis treatment. Dr. Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, highlights this point in an article in Neuropsychopharmacology. She begins the report on the study by writing, “The words we use to describe mental illnesses and substance use disorders (addiction to alcohol and other legal and illegal drugs) can impact the likelihood that people will seek help and the quality of the help they receive.”

Finally, in dual diagnosis treatment, clinicians at TTC build up a patient’s self-esteem. By highlighting successes and minimizing failure, the patient gains a better sense of intrinsic value beyond past stigma. In treatment settings, respect goes a long way to reducing stigmatizations and improving recovery outcomes. At TTC, we both successfully treat dual-diagnosis patients while addressing the stigma that often characterizes past difficulties experienced by the patients. Thus, we open the door to expression and growth.