Co-Occurring Disorders Treatment

Are you one of 8.9 million Americans living with a co-occurring disorder (mental illness + a substance use disorder?)

If you are, you know how difficult it can be to control your drinking or drug use while also managing your psychiatric symptoms – and if you’re like many, you’ve tried addiction treatment before and had little success.

But while you may struggle in a conventional treatment program, integrated co-occurring programs are specifically designed to help you achieve lasting remission by treating your addiction and mental illness, at the same time.

If you live with a co-occurring disorder, recovery and a much better life is absolutely possible. Make contact to learn more about suitable programs in your area.

The Importance of Integrated Treatment

• Integrated treatment = treating both addiction and mental illness at the same time, in one location, with all members of the treatment team in direct communication.

When addiction and mental illness co-occur, you have to treat them together.

• If you treat the mental illness only, the drinking or drug use will worsen psychiatric symptoms and reduce the effectiveness of medications and treatments – ultimately, treatment won’t work.
• If you treat the addiction only, symptoms of mental illness compromise your ability to stay focused on recovery and learn and use effective coping skills – ultimately, treatment won’t work.
• If you combine treatment for addiction and mental illness into an integrated program, you can reduce symptoms of mental illness, learn special coping skills to manage mental illness and drug/alcohol cravings and reduce or eliminate your substance use at the same time – in the end, treatment works!

Pharmacological Management

The importance of an on-site psychiatrist - getting an accurate assessment and on-going medication adjustments can make the difference between treatment drop-out and treatment success.

SAMHSA recommends an on-site psychiatrist as an essential component for effective integrated treatment.

Specialized Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention is a core component of any addiction treatment program, but if you have a co-occurring disorder, you’re at twice the risk of relapse and you need to learn a greater variety of prevention skills and stay more engaged with ongoing continuing care.

• Specialized co-occurring disorder programs teach the skills you need to prevent worsening psychiatric symptoms and addiction relapse.

Comprehensive Treatment

Recovery isn’t just about stopping alcohol or drug use, it’s also about improving yourself, living a self-directed life and building a happy and healthy existence.

With this holistic goal in mind, integrated programs provide either direct support or linkages to outside assistance programs in areas such as:

• Housing
• Employment
• Case management services
• Legal assistance
• Social skills training
• Family therapy
• Physical health
• Others

You don’t have to live with active addiction and you can control your mental illness. You can have a better life – right now, but to get there you have to tackle both challenges together, in a sensible and unified way. Take a first step today and find out more about co-occurring programs that meet your needs.