Substance abuse is now common problem. The individuals who are addicted to substance are more likely to have mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Najt, Fusar-Poli and Brambilla (2011) in their research quoted the study of Kessler et al., (1994) who have stated that about 48% of entire US population have shown substance related or mental health disorder at least once in their life. Moreover, out of the stated 48%, about 48% have shown one disorder, about 79% shave shown two disorders and about 14% have shown three or more lifetime disorders. Therefore, it can be said that substance abuse is a mental disorder because it is co-occurring in nature.
Many studies have tested the co-occurrence between mental disorders (such as suicide, depression, anxiety, and mood disorder) and substance use problems which are more commonly found among adults (Andreas, Lauritzen and Nordfjærn, 2015). For instance, the literature by Morisano, Babor, and Robaina (2014) has concluded that there is a strong association and co-occurrence between substance abuse and mental health problems, both in the clinical studies and epidemiological studies (Morisano, Babor, and Robaina, 2014). Similarly, Bakken et al (2007) has also supported that the majority of the patients that seek treatment for substance use disorders also have mental disorders (Bakken et al., 2007). Likewise, the research by Chi and Weisner (2008) has concluded that patients with increased psychiatric severity or mental disorder are said to have increased frequency of substance abuse (Chi & Weisner, 2008). Mueser, Drake and Noordsy (2013) are of view that co-occurring substance use and mental disorders are common as individuals that have one type of disorder have more chances to develop other types of mental disorders (Mueser, Drake and Noordsy 2013).
In a nutshell, it can be concluded that substance abuse and mental disorders are co-occurring in nature. Thus, there are certain treatments that help an individual to come out of the co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders. Support, proper treatment and strategies that are based on self-help aid to overcome the situation as dropping out of the treatment has long term worse outcomes.
References
Andreas, J. B., Lauritzen, G., and Nordfjærn, T. (2015). Co-occurrence between mental distress and poly-drug use: A ten year prospective study of patients from substance abuse treatment, Addictive Behaviors, 48, pp 71–78 doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.05.001
Bakken, K., Landheim, A. S., Vaglum, P. (2007). Axis I and II disorders as long-term predictors of mental distress: A six-year prospective follow-up of substance-dependent patients, BMC Psychiatry, 7 (29). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-244x-7-29
Chi, F. W., and Weisner, C. M. (2008). Nine-year psychiatric trajectories and substance use outcomes—An application of the group-based modeling approach, Evaluation Review, 32 (1), pp. 39–58 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0193841x07307317
Kessler et al., (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: Results from the national co-morbidity survey, Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, pp. 8–19
Morisano, D., Babor, T.F., and Robaina, K. A. (2014). Co-occurrence of substance use disorders with other psychiatric disorders: Implications for treatment services, Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 31 (1), pp. 5–25 http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/nsad-2014-0002
Mueser, K. T., Drake, R. E., and Noordsy, D. L. (2013). Treatment for Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders, Interventions for Addiction: Comprehensive Addictive Behaviors and Disorders, 3, pp 317–323 doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-398338-1.00033-6
Najt, P., Fusar-Poli, P., and Brambilla, P. (2011). Co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders: A review on the potential predictors and clinical outcomes, Psychiatry Research, 186, (2–3), pp 159–164 doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2010.07.042
