Co-occurring disorders
People
who suffer from substance abuse disorders together with mental health issues
are usually diagnosed to have co-occurring
disorders also known as dual disorders. Treatment for co-occuring disorders
is also different as it involves
treatment of two problems rather than just one..
Substance use basically encompasses alcohol or drug
abuse or dependence.Alcohol or drug abuse is a condition in which use of alcohol
or drugs begins to meddle in normal functioning of a person at work, at school, or
in his/ her social relationships.Alcohol
or drug dependence is far serious than abuse as people suffering from
it have failed attempts to refrain from usage of drug or alcohol.In some of the cases,
it is the physiological dependence which is depicted by enhanced quantity
of drug intake and experiencing withdrawal symptoms like tremors and nausea
when usage is stopped.
Mental
health disorders
Menntal
health disorders are commonly seen in lot of people. There has been marked
increase in mood and anxiety realted disorders. Some of the popular mood
related disorders are depression and dysthymia. Anxiety related disorder is
panic disorder and post traumatic stress disorder, Obsessive Compulsive
disorder etc. Most of the people with serious mental illness also get diagnosed
with co-occurring disorders. Some
very serious mental health disorders are schizophrenia and schizoaffective
disorder. These are sometime referred to as thought disorders.
At
time it become tough to identify co-occurring disorders. What happens is that symptoms
of addiction or substance abuse are masked by the symptoms of the mental illness. Coversely, people suffering
from mental health issues do not address the issue of substance as they feel it
is not relevant. Nevertheless, some characteristic patterns can be see among patients
afflicted with co-occurring disorders.
The mental health symptoms can become worse
if treatment is just offered for abuse. Those afflicted with mental health disease
use alcohol and drugs to feel elated. People who suffer from anxiety want substance
to make them calm; those with depression want something to make them feel excited
about life; those who are easily terrified need something to relax them; and those
in psychological pain require something for
relief from mental pain.
Making
use of alcohol and other drugs not just fails to mend the mental disorder but also
inhibits in developing useful coping skills. Such people are never able to
build satisfying relationships or feel comfortable in their own skin. So,
basically use of alcohol and drugs worsen mental health disorders.
People affected with co-occurring disorders should discontinue
using alcohol or other drugs.
In the past, addiction and mental health disorders were
treated separately. But now there is integrated co occurring disorderstreatment as both the issues must be
treated together get rid of the condition. Treating only one disorder will
not lead to positive outcomes the other to automatically improve. There are
several co occurring disorders treatment centers. Separate care for both the disorders does produce
effective healing. To be successful, both the disorders need to be treated at
same time under ambit of same treatment team.
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