Mental Health vs. Dual-Diagnosis Treatment in Los Angeles, CA

The Bel Air Home in Los Angeles, California provides this information on residential (inpatient) mental health and dual-diagnosis area treatment centers.

For those of you in and around the West Los Angeles area, and in fact, Southern California in general, you may have heard of the Bel Air Home. However, the likelihood of that being the case would be substantially higher if you are, in some capacity, tied into the Los  Angeles, CA mental health, addiction & dual-diagnosis treatment community.

As for those of you not local to Los Angeles, including the surrounding regions, like Orange County, Ventura County, Palm Springs, San Diego, etc., you should know that, collectively this area, as a whole, is considered to be the global epicenter for mental health and substance abuse treatment services. So what does this mean? It means, if you are indigent, you have a world of options. If you are wealthy, you of course have a world of options. And if you’re anywhere in the middle, likewise, you have a world of options.

The one disadvantage with having so many options for treatment is that one can be easily misled when choosing where to go for help. Given the increased competitive aspect in attracting new patients, it is not uncommon to encounter admission representatives that are inclined to oversell their program’s services, areas of focus, benefits, and so forth.

With respect to Los Angeles, and in fact, Southern California as a whole, you will find that most drug & alcohol addiction treatment centers also offer help for dual-diagnosis patients (also referred to as having co-occurring disorders). For those unfamiliar with these terms, they essentially refer to clients who suffer from both, drug/alcohol addiction as well as a co-occurring mental illness, like depression, trauma, anxiety, PTSD, etc. And the fact of the matter is, that over the past 2 or 3 decades it has become widely realized that a substantial percentage of addicts & alcoholics are in fact dual-diagnosis.

It is important to understand that these types of residential treatment centers are designed to, first and foremost, treat substance abuse disorders. Some treatment programs focus on other addictions, called process addictions, the most common of which being, gambling and sex/porn addiction. These days however, internet & technology addiction is quite common as well. The point here though, is that dual-dagnosis facilities are intended for those whose mental illness is secondary to their addiction.

A somewhat common occurance out here in Los Angeles, considering the industry competition, is that a patient with severe mental illness will end up in one of these types of facilities. For this reason, it is critical to ask many probing questions when searching for the right treatment center. It goes without saying that a facility like this is less equipped to deal with severe mental illness.

The Bel Air Home is not only equipped to treat severe mental illness, it is also among the very few “dual-Licensed mental health treatment centers throughout Southern California, meaning that we are also fully equipped for crisis stabilization.

Secluded nicely within the hills of Bel Air, CA, we provide a wonderfully inviting & comfortable environment for a maximum of 6 clients at any given time. We encourage you to learn more about our unique, advanced, and comprehensive approaches to treating mental illness. We even offer age-specific treatment approaches!

Regardless of whether written by a licensed medical professional or not, nothing in this blog should be taken as medical advice, an assessment, a diagnosis, or anything of the sort.