Doctor Pablo Vega, member of the Instituto de Adicciones of Madrid Salud, has indicated that the families of those who suffer from dual pathology “are usually the first to detect that something is not right, those who accompany them during the crises, and those who provide support when difficulties arise,” but “many times they find themselves alone, without sufficient information and without knowing how to act.”
As he has specified, this “does not mean that there are no family care resources, but that it is necessary to give them greater visibility, facilitate access to them, and ensure that they respond to the specific needs of the families,” as he has expressed during a new edition of the “Forum on Families, Addictions and Dual Pathology,” held in Madrid, where he has reiterated that “caring for families is an care necessity.”
The event, organized by the Instituto de Adicciones of Madrid Salud and the Fundación Patología Dual, has also included the participation of the vice president of the Sociedad Española de Patología Dual (SEPD), Doctor Pablo Vega, who has highlighted that the Ayuntamiento de Madrid has a specific network for the care of addictions and dual pathology, made up of the seven Centers for Addiction Care (CAD) of the Institute.
“These seven centers provide comprehensive care through multidisciplinary teams of Medicine, Psychology, Nursing, Social Work, and Occupational Therapy,” he has detailed, before emphasizing that “family intervention is part of the work of the CAD and includes guidance, psychological and social support, individual or group intervention depending on needs, and support during the therapeutic process.” “There is also the Family Guidance Service, directed especially to families of adolescents and young people,” he added.
Along this line, he has pointed out that “the coexistence in the same person of an addiction and another mental disorder profoundly changes the life of the family around them, which becomes filled with worry and uncertainty.” “Many families live anticipating what might happen: feeling guilty for these mental disorders, wondering whether their child will consume again, whether they will attend treatment, whether a new crisis will arise, or whether they will be able to recover their autonomy,” he has indicated.
"This situation can cause anxiety, sadness, emotional exhaustion, couple conflicts, economic problems and even social isolation," he continued, adding that "to this is added the stigma that still accompanies both addictions and other mental disorders." For this reason, he considers it "fundamental" to bring to families "that addictions are mental disorders that coexist with other mental disorders and that we need to understand and treat both conditions together."
Specific family psychoeducation programs
In this context, Vega has defended the need to "generalize specific family psychoeducation programs, spaces for psychological support, mutual help groups and reference professionals who guide families throughout the process and who teach them practical tools to communicate better, establish healthy boundaries, or know how to act in a crisis and how to accompany without taking on responsibilities that correspond to the affected person and to the professionals." "This is not about turning family members into therapists, but about giving them knowledge and tools so they can help without stopping to take care of themselves," he stressed.
On the other hand, the member of the Neurociences and Mental Health Research Group of the Health Research Institute of the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón in Madrid and president of the Patología Dual Foundation, Dr. Néstor Szerman, has warned that "in many places a separation still exists between mental health services and those for addictions, and many patients and their families do not find the right entry into the healthcare system."
In his view, this reality "can cause a family to have to go to different services, to tell the same story repeatedly, or to receive instructions that are not always sufficiently coordinated." "On some occasions, it is the family members themselves who end up trying to coordinate the professionals and the treatments," he said, calling for "coherent, integrated and continued care."