The existence of a medical condition can have a very important impact on clients who seek treatment for co-occurring disorders. These medical conditions may be a result of many situations producing chronic pain to traumatic events that have left physical consequences affecting the physiological aspects of the client’s life. Relapse or risk factors can be found in physiological variables such as post-acute withdrawal symptoms; intense cravings for substances; physical pain and illness; serious medical problems or changes in health status; ingestion of medications for medical, dental, or psychiatric problems; or any use of alcohol or other drugs (Daley & Moss, 2002). Consider as an example a client that has been disabled in a terrible automobile
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) healthcare providers wrote 259 million prescriptions in 2012, that is enough to give every adult in the United States a bottle of pills. Most common chronic pain issues are found in post-surgical, lower back, cancer, arthritis, and nerve damage, for which a majority of primary care physicians prescribe pain medications. Often this is done so without any prior knowledge of the existence of current substance abuse or mental disorders. Symptomatic of PTSD, the individual becomes emotionally or physically upset when reminded of the traumatic event and for people with chronic pain, the pain may actually serve as a reminder of that event further exacerbating the PTSD (DeCarvalho, 2016). As a client enters into treatment for co-occurring issues of PTSD and opiate use disorder, there will be issues truly understanding any physical pain the individual may be experiencing. Pain becomes a very difficult symptom to measure, as the severity is dependent on the client’s honest assessment and whether the client is willing to try non-narcotic remedies as a method to achieve complete abstinence. Though a client may be able to be treated and educated on proper coping skills, there will always remain a higher risk of relapse as long as opiate based medications are …show more content…
These studies have also lead to the growing concern of opiate addiction across the nation, but this is not the only medically related issues co-occurring clients deal with in treatment. Another consideration that must be closely observed is found in the utilization of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). MAT is a harm reduction approach used with both opioids and alcohol treatment by substituting the drug of choice, with a lesser potent substance in order to weaken withdrawals through the detoxification period. This can be administered through in-patient or outpatient treatment, but the therapist must remain cautious when MAT is used outside of a monitored treatment environment. The SAMHSA (2005) suggests that residential treatment settings ensure the physical and psychological safety of the client that may not continue MAT due to high relapse potential evidenced by an inability to control substance use despite participation in less intensive outpatient programs. Much like the poor treatment outcomes that come from a singular approach to a co-occurring disorder, the client may abuse the medications used to treat the substance use until eventually they return to the very substance they sought help from in the first place. This same care should be practiced when a client is treated through a
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) healthcare providers wrote 259 million prescriptions in 2012, that is enough to give every adult in the United States a bottle of pills. Most common chronic pain issues are found in post-surgical, lower back, cancer, arthritis, and nerve damage, for which a majority of primary care physicians prescribe pain medications. Often this is done so without any prior knowledge of the existence of current substance abuse or mental disorders. Symptomatic of PTSD, the individual becomes emotionally or physically upset when reminded of the traumatic event and for people with chronic pain, the pain may actually serve as a reminder of that event further exacerbating the PTSD (DeCarvalho, 2016). As a client enters into treatment for co-occurring issues of PTSD and opiate use disorder, there will be issues truly understanding any physical pain the individual may be experiencing. Pain becomes a very difficult symptom to measure, as the severity is dependent on the client’s honest assessment and whether the client is willing to try non-narcotic remedies as a method to achieve complete abstinence. Though a client may be able to be treated and educated on proper coping skills, there will always remain a higher risk of relapse as long as opiate based medications are …show more content…
These studies have also lead to the growing concern of opiate addiction across the nation, but this is not the only medically related issues co-occurring clients deal with in treatment. Another consideration that must be closely observed is found in the utilization of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). MAT is a harm reduction approach used with both opioids and alcohol treatment by substituting the drug of choice, with a lesser potent substance in order to weaken withdrawals through the detoxification period. This can be administered through in-patient or outpatient treatment, but the therapist must remain cautious when MAT is used outside of a monitored treatment environment. The SAMHSA (2005) suggests that residential treatment settings ensure the physical and psychological safety of the client that may not continue MAT due to high relapse potential evidenced by an inability to control substance use despite participation in less intensive outpatient programs. Much like the poor treatment outcomes that come from a singular approach to a co-occurring disorder, the client may abuse the medications used to treat the substance use until eventually they return to the very substance they sought help from in the first place. This same care should be practiced when a client is treated through a