Substance Abuse
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Substance use disorders is the repeated misuse of alcohol and/or drugs- often occur simultaneously in individuals with mental illness, usually to cope with overwhelming symptoms. The combination of these two illnesses has its own term: dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorders.
Symptoms of substance use disorder may include:
- Withdrawal from friends and family
- Sudden changes in behavior
- Engaging in risky behaviors
- Developing a high tolerance and
- withdrawal symptoms
- Feeling like you need a drug to be able to function
Symptoms of a mental health condition can also vary greatly. Warnings signs, such as extreme mood changes, confused thinking or problems concentrating, avoiding friends and social activities and thoughts of suicide, may be reasons to seek help.
*The best treatment for dual diagnosis is integrated intervention, when a person receives care for both their diagnosed mental illness and substance use disorder.
