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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