The Facts about Co-occurrence
The connection between substance abuse and psychiatric disorders is neither rare nor tenuous. Approximately 20% of all who are suffering from a psychiatric disorder also have substance abuse issues. 50% of all drug addicts and alcoholics are also coping with some kind of serious mental illness. The rates of co-occurrence are especially high for those who have been diagnosed with either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. About half of all victims of these disorders are also addicted to drugs or alcohol. Life can be an uphill struggle for any substance abuser, and obviously, for anyone trying to cope with a psychiatric condition as well. But things tend to spiral out of control for those forced to cope with addiction and mental illness at the same time. Those diagnosed with both have:- Higher levels of involvement in violent incidents or crimes
- Much higher rates of dropout from addiction treatment facilities
- Higher levels of relapse
- More episodes of psychosis
- More problems with chronic physical illness
- A greatly increased likelihood of ending up homeless
- Higher incarceration rates
Finding Hope for the Hopeless
The question of which came first is not all that important in the final analysis. But it seems likely that mental illness is more often a cause of addiction than addiction is a cause of mental illness. Drugs and alcohol are seductive because they help people bear the unbearable. Thus, addiction is seen as a symptom of some deeper, underlying conflict or dysfunction. For this reason, family caretakers would be well advised to do everything they can to keep their mentally ill loved ones away from drugs and alcohol. Exposure to addictive substances, in this case, can only make things worse. Once addiction and mental illness are present together, they will inevitably feed and reinforce each other. So in this situation, both problems must be treated aggressively and simultaneously. Professionals use dual diagnosis treatment to deal with this issue. However, in this program, some other treatments and therapies are used to help individuals such as:- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Experiential therapy
- Trauma-informed therapy
- Psychodrama therapy
- Motivational interviewing
