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The need to make mental health services accessible and adapt
them for people with Dual Diagnosis
Around 30,000 people with intellectual developmental disabilities live in Israel, and as noted
above, this population is very vulnerable to mental illness. The mental health services existing
today lack knowledge in the field of intellectual disability, and have never developed working
models adapted to people with “Dual Diagnosis”. Accordingly, today they are unable to provide
these people, their families, and professionals in the community with fitting responses to
improve their personal and social functioning.
In March 2007, Israel signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities, and in 2012 the convention was ratified in the Knesset. This convention defines the
vision, and sets out international standards for the civil and social rights to which all people with
disabilities are entitled. First and foremost, the convention anchors the general right to non-
discrimination, accompanied by the active obligation of its signatories to promote equal
opportunities for people with disabilities in all areas of life.
Treatment of mental illness among people with disabilities is a significant tool for enabling them
to realize their hidden potential and live a full life.
Specialist therapeutic units in this field are important for a number of reasons:
a. In the absence of fitting knowledge and treatment, some people with Dual Diagnosis
receive inappropriate drug treatment.
b. Sometimes treatment that has not been adapted can lead to extreme situations in which an
individual may become a danger to himself or others.
c. Because of the difficulty in coping with behavioral problems among this population, and in
the absence of suitable treatment, patients become more vulnerable to neglect and abuse.
d. Families raising a child or adult with Dual Diagnosis need an address that can provide them
with support, advice, and accompaniment in coping with the behaviors and sensitive
situations arising from the person’s special condition.
e. Professionals in the community who serve as the main and/or secondary carer of a child or
person with Dual Diagnosis are also left in a state of distress, because they lack an advisory
and therapeutic address to turn to for help.
All these have led us, in collaboration with the Department of Psychological Medicine at
Schneider Children's Medical Center, to develop an ambulatory community unit specializing in
treating people with Dual Diagnosis, with a multidisciplinary staff, providing diagnostic and
therapeutic services and guidance for people with disabilities, their families, and the people
treating them in their everyday lives.