A co-occurring disorder, also known as a dual diagnosis, is when people have more than one mental health issue. This diagnosis includes when someone has a mental health issue and an addiction. There are many common co-occurring disorders. They impact about 9.2 million adults, most often diagnosed between the ages of 26 and 49.
Signs Of Co-Occurring Disorders
There is no one-size-fits-all diagnosis for co-occurring disorders. But if you or someone you love are having difficulty functioning, a mental health disorder may be the reason. And a co-occurring disorder may be present.
Common symptoms of co-occurring disorders include:
- Difficulty with friendships and relationships
- Emotional instability
- Financial or legal problems
- Unpredictable mood swings
- Difficulty retaining employment
When co-occurring disorders impact your routine and inhibit your ability to achieve goals or fulfill obligations, it may be time to seek a treatment program that offers specialized dual diagnosis support.
If you treat a mental health issue or addiction in isolation, the untreated co-occurring disorder can complicate or delay recovery.
Common Co-Occurring Disorders That Can Complicate Recovery
As you seek treatment for a mental health issue, it’s essential to be aware that untreated addictions may derail or delay progress. When addressed in tandem, you benefit from comprehensive care and maximize dual diagnosis treatment.
Some mental health issues that can co-occur with addiction:
- Anxiety and Mood Disorders. Anxiety can lead to intense, excessive worry about routine occurrences and lead you to withdraw from activities that bring you joy. It can progress to panic attacks, which mirror other health emergencies.
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. People with this disorder cannot focus, are impulsive, and have hyperactive behavior. Mental health professionals often prescribe people with ADHD medications they can abuse.
- Bipolar Disorder. Self-medicating is common for people seeking to control the disorder’s unexplained bouts of depression and mania. But it often leads to an increase in frequency and addiction.
- Eating Disorders. People may use stimulants, diet pills, alcohol, and drugs to reduce their appetite and boost their self-image.
- Major Depressive Disorder. Substance use can occur if you are having difficulty functioning in day-to-day life.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Following exposure to extreme or ongoing stress or violence, you may experience intense flashbacks or night terrors. Attempting to alleviate symptoms with alcohol or drugs often leads to further imbalance.
- Schizophrenia. It is difficult for you to distinguish between reality and fantasy. You experience hallucinations, psychosis, delusions, and disorganized thinking.
About half of people with substance use disorders have a co-occurring mental health condition. You can work with the team at Integrative Life Center to address your dual diagnoses and create a rehabilitation plan.
How Integrative Life Center Helps With Common Co-Occurring Disorders
Integrative Life Center provides holistic treatment programs for co-occurring disorders.
Therapies and programs include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. You work directly with a therapist to discover negative emotions, thoughts, and actions, and redirect them into a positive manner that encourages happiness.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Teaches you to recognize and control your emotions, rather than react to them. Skills taught include mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
- Experiential Therapy. Promotes kinesthetic movement and activity to establish a mind-body connection and prompt you to recognize and address suppressed issues.
- Holistic Treatment Programs. Treatments like yoga, breathwork, psychodrama, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing can improve well-being, refresh confidence, and help you control emotions.
- Relapse Prevention Therapy. Equips you to anticipate and overcome the possibility of relapse once you leave ILC by providing you with the tools to identify and cope with environmental, social, and emotional triggers.
- 12-Step. The group-based program that allows you to help others achieve and maintain abstinence from substance use. During meetings, you share your experiences and find support from others. The 12-Step method focuses on forming new patterns and learning new coping mechanisms.
Your story is unique. And your treatment journey will look different from others with common co-occurring disorders. Integrative Life Center will provide customized care and a tailored treatment plan to fulfill your goals.
Let Integrative Life Center Help You Overcome Your Dual Diagnosis
Mental health experts know that they should treat co-occurring disorders in tandem. Integrative Life Center is ready to help you address your mental health concerns with a comprehensive treatment plan and tools to help you thrive. Partner with us for integrated care to gain more complete recovery. Contact us today to get started.
