Femtech is helping women better understand their bodies and make positive changes to improve their health. In this article, we will explore how Femtech is bridging the gap between physical and mental health and supporting dual diagnosis care.

What is Dual Diagnosis Care?

Dual diagnosis care is a specific treatment that helps individuals who are struggling with both a mental health condition and a substance abuse disorder. Dual diagnosis care can support conditions and disorders such as:

Co-occurring Disorders

This is where a person’s mental health condition and drug or alcohol problem occur together.

Mental Health Conditions

Mental health is a very real threat to wellbeing and quality of life. Conditions like schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression can greatly impact a person’s life.

Substance Misuse

This disorder encompasses individuals who have issues with drugs, alcohol, or both.

The interplay between mental illness and substance abuse can be complicated. Oftentimes, both are closely entwined; one condition might have led to the other or might make the other condition worse. As such, you can’t deal with one without having to deal with the other.

How Does a Diagnosis Become a Dual Diagnosis?

According to Giles Fourie, Director and Co-owner of White River Manor, “Many people diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD) are also suffering from a co-existing mental health or behavioural disorder.

This is known as a dual diagnosis. It is also commonly referred to as comorbidity, or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder.”

There are many ways one issue can worsen into multiple, particularly when it comes to the intricate balance between mental health and wellbeing and physical health.

Here are a few of the most common ways that a single diagnosis can become a dual diagnosis:

How One Diagnosis Can Become Two

Self-medication

When a person is diagnosed with a mental health condition, for example, they are sometimes prescribed medication to help manage their symptoms.

Unfortunately, out of desperation, some people may abuse these prescriptions or turn to stronger forms of substance abuse in an attempt to alleviate their symptoms.

This can lead to regular substance abuse, worsening mental health, and sometimes the onset of a mental disorder.

Substance Use

Misuse of substances can trigger mental health conditions or exacerbate mental health struggles that were already present. And long-term substance abuse can cause a person to develop a mental disorder.

Shared Risk Factors

Family Genetics

Some people come from families prone to mental health conditions or substance abuse disorders. This means some people are more genetically predisposed to facing mental health or substance abuse challenges than others.

The Brain’s Influence

The brain can have a strong influence on a person’s predisposition to substance abuse. For those with a pre-existing mental health condition, substance abuse can potentially feel more rewarding and enjoyable, dramatically increasing the likelihood of increased use in the future.

Environmental Factors

For individuals who experienced excessive stress, trauma, or abuse in early childhood, there is often an increased risk of developing a substance abuse disorder or a mental health condition.

Individual Factors

Everyone is different and influenced or affected by different things. There can be many reasons why a person develops a mental health condition or turn to substance abuse. Some of the most common reasons include:

Low Self-Esteem

People with low self-esteem are more likely to turn to drugs or alcohol as a way to feel better about themselves and increase their confidence. Prolonged substance abuse can result in a reliance on substances to feel ‘normal’.

Lack of Medical Treatment or Professional Support

Unfortunately, many people (women in particular) lack the correct treatment and support needed to manage their health conditions helpfully. When medical conditions are left undiagnosed or untreated, this can lead to frustration and upset, sometimes resulting in substance abuse or mental health struggles.

Prenatal Exposure

Foetuses exposed to drugs, alcohol, or other toxins in the womb are more likely to partake in substance abuse and/or develop a mental health condition during their lifetime.

As you can see, dual diagnosis disorders are complex and often result in a number of factors intertwining, from genetic predispositions and environmental influences to psychological factors and lack of support.

It can be hard to identify which condition came first in many cases. As such, both must be dealt with and treated simultaneously.

How Femtech is Meeting the Needs of Dual Diagnosis Care

Femtech stands for “Female Technology” and refers to the use of technology, such as apps, to address women’s physical and mental health needs. Femtech has a wide reach and touches on most areas of female health and wellbeing, from menstrual cycles, fertility, pregnancy, and menopause to digital therapeutics and counselling.

It’s a beautiful thing; empowering women to take control of their health. And Femtech is taking things even further by offering advanced tools that helpfully integrate mental health support with personalised tools to manage and track physical symptoms.

Let’s take a closer look.

Mental Health Integration and Care

More often than not, health struggles can affect mental wellbeing and vice versa. Understanding this intricate balance is important. Femtech for mental health integrates mental health care and wellbeing into health apps to provide:

Emotional Support

Having the opportunity to write out your symptoms, journal your thoughts, take part in guided medications, and gain access to mental health resources is invaluable. It’s helping countless women manage their mental health alongside their physical health.

Combined Tracking

Femtech is offering combined tracking capabilities where apps can track an individual’s mental wellbeing alongside their physical symptoms, showing how one can impact the other. This provides a well-rounded picture of health so that women can take proactive steps towards positive change.

Personalised Health Support

Once women have tracked how their mental health is affected by their physical health, and vice versa, they will have an accurate record that can be shared with a doctor or healthcare provider. This can provide health professionals with invaluable insights into a woman’s health, often supporting the treatment and future management of dual diagnosis disorders.

Improving Treatment for Dual Diagnosis Patients

Dual diagnosis can be a tricky area of medicine and one that is hard to treat without lots of knowledge about and understanding of the patient. Femtech is revolutionising dual diagnosis treatment through the provision of:

Personalised Treatment Plans

Dual diagnosis looks different for everyone. That’s why it’s so important to have a detailed and personalised treatment plan. Femtech can be utilised to provide valuable insights into a patient’s health journey, from both physical and mental perspectives, providing a well-rounded view into the patient’s world and supporting appropriate treatment plans.

Staying on Track

Once the treatment plan has been created, Femtech can support patients in staying on track with their treatments by providing medication reminders, tracking health progress, and offering resources for further support.

Improved Care Coordination

Organising care for a person with a dual diagnosis disorder can be challenging. Femtech supports this process by providing a more concise view into patient health and wellbeing so that patient communications can be clearly made and treatments can be appropriately suggested.

Can Femtech Bridge the Dual Diagnosis Care Gap?

Absolutely. Femtech is already revolutionising the world of medicine as we know it. Femtech allows women to take their health into their own hands, claim responsibility and control over their bodies, and have data-driven evidence that backs up their health concerns.

We are excited to see where Femtech goes and how it will continue to transform dual diagnosis care for so many.