Co-occurring disorders: The link between substance use and mental health | Recovering Together

Tonia describes the nature of her son’s co-occurring disorder, and how hard it was to find effective treatment that took both issues into account.

It’s difficult enough if your loved one is struggling with a substance use disorder, but what if they are struggling with a mental health disorder at the same time? This dual diagnosis is not uncommon. Like Tonia’s son Rory, 30 to 45% of adolescents and young adults with mental health disorders have a co-occurring substance use disorder. Many facilities offer treatment for co-occurring disorders, but it’s not always truly integrated care. For instance, some providers won’t work on mental health issues until a person is totally abstinent from substance use. Others simply have a nurse on hand to dispense psychiatric medications.

“He had an underlying issue of ADHD, but he was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder,” Tonia says. “He had gone to treatment so many times, but the treatment centers really just ignored the diagnosis and treated him for substance use, and never even really talked about the bipolar disorder.”

“The only time they really did treat him for the mental health issues was in jail,” says Tonia. “He spent three months in the jail just getting stable for his bipolar disorder, which is really telling since he had spent all these years in treatment for substance use, and that was all it took to get him stable with his mental health. It was also telling that the long-term treatment center would not take him until the jail stabilized him on his medications.”

For resources on finding effective treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, check out the links below.

Recovering Together, our YouTube series that tells stories of loved ones impacted by substance use disorder invites family and loved ones to shed light on how you can help someone on the road to recovery. These videos shine a light on love, empathy, and the power of connection.

Listen to more stories:

About Partnership to End Addiction: Partnership to End Addiction is a national nonprofit providing personalized support and resources for families impacted by addiction. With decades of experience in direct services, communications and coalition-building, we mobilize families, policymakers, researchers, and health care professionals to more effectively address addiction systemically on a national scale.

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[shar]

My question is, what about the program has been improved to prevent the person who’s addicted and in need of help from using? By this video, I’m assuming she still lost her son to usage. I don’t know because she doesn’t say, but if she did, the program didn’t seem to help with the desired result which was to keep him clean and alive.

[charleshull]

Believe me, I know exactly, exactly, what you went through, please stay strong and put your trust in Christ