Does Alzheimer’s Count as a Mental Disorder for a Dual Diagnosis?

Question by Lorin: Does Alzheimer’s count as a mental disorder for a dual diagnosis?
I am researching Substance Abuse Rehab facilities and have found that dual diagnosis or occurring mental disorders in conjunction with addiction needs to be treated differently. The normal mental disorders mentioned were bipolar, depression, anxiety, Schizophrenia, etc, but no mention of Alzheimer’s. Would this apply in the case of dual diagnosis?

Best answer:

Answer by Judy & Charlie
When we are talking about substance abuse, especially alcohol in the elderly, the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease and Wernike Korsakoff’s Disease have similar symptoms. Both are organic mental disorders.
Both are found in elderly people and its often hard to tell the two apart.

Answer by Danny
No, because there aren’t usually cases of substance abuse addiction along with Alzheimer’s.

The disorders that you listed are all disorders that are usually medicated with highly addictive medications. A lot of antideppresants and anti-anxiety medicine have a high risk of being habit forming, leading to a need for a dual diagnosis with substance abuse.

Alzheimer’s is a different type of mental disorder. While bi-polar, depression, schizophrenia all deal with certain amounts of neurotransmitters in the brain and imbalances relating to them, Alzheimer’s is caused by plague buildup between neurons in the brain, which is more of a physiological issue than a chemical imbalance. Because of this there are different types of medications that aren’t really habit forming, along with the fact that the Alzheimer’s demographic is not one known for its substance abuse issues.

More Dual Diagnosis Mental Health Information…