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Information:
Co-occurring disorders is
defined as individuals who have at least one mental disorder as well as
an alcohol or drug use disorder. While these disorders may
interact differently in any one person (e.g., an episode of depression
may trigger a relapse into alcohol abuse, or cocaine use may exacerbate
schizophrenic symptoms), at least one disorder of each type can be
diagnosed independently of the other.
Co-occurring disorders may
vary among individuals and in the same individual over time. Both
disorders can vary along the dimensions of severity, chronicity, and
degree of impairment in functioning. Both disorders may be severe
or mild, or one may be more severe than the other.
Co-occurring substance abuse disorders and mental disorders are both
common and highly complex phenomena that have been estimated to affect
from 7 to 10 million adult Americans in any one year. Children,
youth, and older adults also may experience co-occurring substance abuse
disorders and mental disorders. According to the U.S. Surgeon
General in the 1999 report on mental health, "Forty-one to 65 percent of
individuals with a lifetime substance abuse disorder also have a
lifetime history of at least one mental disorder, and about 51 percent
of those with one or more lifetime mental disorders also have a lifetime
history of at least one substance abuse disorder."
Treatment:
Treatment for persons with Co-occurring disorders should integrate
mental health and substance use treatment at the level of the clinical
encounter. To achieve integrated treatment, the same clinicians,
teams of clinicians, or case managers, working in one setting, provide
appropriate integrated mental health and substance use interventions.
The staff takes responsibility for combining the interventions into one
coherent approach. For the individual with co-occurring disorders,
the service should appear seamless, with a consistent approach,
philosophy and set of recommendations.
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