Dual Diagnosis of Schizophrenia and Substance Use Disorder

The group chosen for this assignment is dual diagnoses that constitute of patients with both schizophrenia and substance use disorder. One of the reasons for selecting this group is the fact that the two conditions are usually related. Majority of the people with schizophrenia tend to have a problem with drug abuse. Most of the young people are at risk of developing schizophrenia and substance use disorder, which shows why it would be essential to come up with solutions to the issue.

People with schizophrenia are likely to rely on substance abuse such as smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol and other recreational drugs as compared to people without the condition. Some of the impacts of dual diagnoses among the young people especially include high death and disability rates. Most of the people with schizophrenia turn to alcohol to self-medicate themselves. 

Part B

Over the last two decades, people with mental illness and substance abuse have been increasing in Australia. Moreover, the public is not aware of what measures could be useful in handling people with dual diagnoses. The police are usually among the first people to encounter people with dual diagnoses. In most cases, such people end up in prison instead of in a mental health facility where they are likely to receive appropriate care.  From this, one can see that the public lacks knowledge on the issue.

The primary stakeholders, in this case, refer to a group of people that could help create awareness of the disorder among the Australians while also coming up with ways of encouraging the people with the condition to seek medical help. The stakeholders include the mental health professionals, the social workers, and the Australian government.

Some of the factors that lead to dual diagnoses include genes, stressful or traumatic exposures, and early drug exposure, which are elements that could overlap. From this, one can see that some of the needs of the people with this issue would be seeking urgent medical intervention since the disorder could have grievous consequences, which include death, disability and over-reliance on drugs for survival.  

People with dual diagnoses affect a community significantly. First, people with schizophrenia and substance use disorder will encourage the sale of drugs in a region. Besides, excessive consumption of drugs could lead to death, crime and other harmful acts, which also could affect a community’s reputation significantly.

One of the social factors affecting people with dual diagnoses includes the fact that such people usually get only medical intervention where they are given drugs for mental health treatment when, in actual sense, counseling and psychotherapy interventions is paramount for the people with this problems. Further, a political factor affecting this issue includes the lack of funds required for the mental health personnel to treat people effectively.  

Part C

The key stakeholders that require consultation include the affected community where one is likely to discuss some of the issues affecting the population. Understanding the problems could lead one to come up with the right solutions to this problem. One of the opportunities existing to facilitate the required change include the willingness of the mental health providers to get training on how to use both mental health treatment medication and psychotherapy and counseling while dealing with people that have dual diagnoses.

Some of the socio-political issues that require to be changed include the increased reporting of the media when reporting issues related to schizophrenia and substance use disorder. Another problem requiring change is the lack of the right medical personnel to deal with people with dual diagnoses. Lastly, the government should address the issue of inadequate funding in mental health facilities since it derails effective service delivery.

Part D

The recommended strategies for dealing with the issue of schizophrenia and substance use disorder include:

•    Training the medical professionals on how to treat people with dual diagnoses effectively;

•    Hold meeting and campaigns on creating awareness of the condition;

•    Encourage the government to increase funding to the mental health facilities.

The best way of implementing the recommendation is working together with the key stakeholders that include the government, social workers and mental health professionals.

Part E

The system advocacy and recommendations mentioned above would be useful in the identification of areas that require improvements. Working with the stakeholders will help identify if the services provided to the affected community is satisfying. Some of the areas that need improvement include the provision of the best services and psychotherapy counseling to the affected people since it will help solve the underlying stressful and traumatic issues leading to dual diagnoses.

Part F

The advocacy suggested was useful and in line with the objectives of the research, which is identifying the recommendations that would be effective in reducing and dealing with dual diagnoses of schizophrenia and substance use disorder. Some of the lessons learned from this assignment include the fact that combining medical treatment with psychotherapy counseling is the best and the most effective method of dealing with dual diagnoses. The opportunities existing in Australia to deal with the condition include the willingness of the government to provide funding to facilitate effective treatment of the affected community and the increased numbers of social workers that will help create awareness of the condition.