Extended inpatient treatment of a refractory heroin addict: a multidisciplinary approach to patients with a dual diagnosis.

Chemically dependent patients may also have a psychiatric problem (e.g., thought disorder, affective disturbance, character pathology). They may suffer as well from concomitant neurological deficits. Consequently, such patients are difficult to treat, and they tend to relapse after achieving sobriety in a short-term treatment program. Traditional chemical dependency programs thus may run the risk of oversimplifying the needs of these refractory patients. The authors present a clinical case to illustrate how an in-depth assessment and extended inpatient care by a multidisciplinary treatment team can achieve more lasting success with refractory dual-diagnosis patients.