ABSTRACT
For people with a dual diagnosis, wellness is often defined as short periods of stability sandwiched between multiple relapses. Dually diagnosed individuals, their families, friends, and clinicians encounter great obstacles to treatment at every turn. The Counsel for Substance Abuse Treatment published a recent Treatment Improvement Protocol that strongly emphasizes the need for combining substance abuse and mental illness treatment, a protocol that should be one of the strongest foci of advocacy groups in all states. Often, dually diagnosed people may seek treatment from their primary health providers who may have insufficient training about mental health and addiction. Quality of life for dually diagnosed clients is directly related to their ability to remain abstinent. If clients are able to have a good support system, careful medication monitoring, assistance in daily living skills and in maintaining relationships, and meaningful work, then quality of life can be quite satisfactory.
