Number of patients dual diagnosis, which means that they have more than one serious diagnosis, are growing significantly. Can these patients really be called dual-diagnosis when they have more than two co-occurring conditions? Should we refer to those who have multi-analysis? It is not uncommon for patients to recognize not only drug abuse, eating disorders, but also post traumatic stress disorder, depression and accompanying anxiety.

Before the traditional way of thinking to treat substance abuse first, then deal with an eating disorder. It has been long believed that all carbon-occurring conditions must be treated at the same time. If all conditions are not treated at the same time, treatment outcomes generally poor, and what would normally be considered small slip can turn into a cascading event, almost like a house of cards, with one slip triggering another fast.

A strong relationship between eating disorders and substance abuse has been long aware of the majority of women who reported binge and / or bulimia combined with drug use. Some 40-50% of all women who have eating disorders will have a problem with alcohol and drugs either now or at some time in their lives. The eating disorders and substance abuse often accompanied by PTSD.

A recent piece of research LR Cohen, Greenfield SF, S. Gordon, T. Killeen, Y. Jiang, and D. Hien, Survey eating disorder symptoms among women in treatment for substance abuse, the study found that in women simultaneously occurring substance abuse disorders and PTSD, a little more than one-third of the women were binge eaters as well. Women who were binge eaters had higher eating disorder, PTSD and depression symptoms science than women in the non-eating disordered group. The researchers also found that improvement in binge-eating group was much slower. It stands to reason that the relapse rate would also be higher with binge eaters.

The researchers say that women with eating disorders respond differently to treatment than did PTSD and substance abuse group. They recommended highly individualized treatment plans.

I always read the newspaper articles that say new research in eating disorders, substance abuse and PTSD, and I felt that greater severity of childhood trauma and PTSD or disease Extreme Stress is not specified (Desnos), the earlier start of alcoholism and related problems. When all the patients admitted to treatment with dual or more diagnostic, test for PTSD and trauma should always be the first battery of tests (DOM, G., De Wilde, B., Hulstijn, W., Sabbe, B. traumatic experience and post traumatic stress disorders :. difference between alcoholic patients early- and late-onset treatment searching)

Complex trauma is a type of trauma associated with childhood trauma that is usually running. There is another type of trauma due to a single event, such as war experience, car accident, etc. Once the client has PTSD with eating disorders, shock is usually complicated shock. Special protocols are available for complex injuries.

Here is one of the best short surveys that I have seen to define complex trauma. It is from Dr. Felicia Mueller in Seattle. She says:

“Complex trauma or disruption strain specified (Desnos) refers to a condition resulting from exposure to multiple shocks or from exposure to high levels of chronic stress is post-traumatic stress (. PTSD) is a condition arising from exposure one traumatic event, complex results of trauma from multiple exposures to one or more shocks.

When the human organism is repeatedly exposed to traumatic stress disorders can occur in the brain and structures, endocrine function, immune memory function, and central and autonomic nervous system activation. These biological disturbances interact with the psychological, emotional, spiritual, and cognitive processes and various disturbances can cause to go out and experience, termination / numbing, and arousal symptoms characteristic of PTSD. “