Psychiatric Disorder Associated With Drug Dependence

There has to be some cause for a person to become addicted to drugs. Researches say that drug dependence has a close relation with psychiatric disorder. There is also a specific name to call this combination of problems. Dual diagnosis is basically a disease where a guy suffers from mental disorders as well as the person is a drug addict.

The mode of treatment for these people cannot be a single way. Thus the patient has to be given full psychological support as well as addiction treatment to get well. As the problem as two aspects the seriousness and the severity is definitely more.

Dual diagnosis – a common problem

Drug addicts or alcoholics are most of the time suffering from dual diagnosis. There is somehow a hinge of mental instability if not insanity in these individuals. A common illness in many drug addicts is that they highly suffer from agony and depression.

Tracking dual diagnosis can be done in two ways. You will have to figure out first that how many drug addicts suffer from mental illness and just vice versa. Through a thorough survey the detection of dual diagnosis has been made. It has been clearly noted that more than 50% of drug abusers do suffer from psychiatric disorder. The percentage is not less in case of alcoholics as well. It is something around 37% of the alcohol abusers who are serious victims of mental sickness.

What is the reverse record? That too covers around 30% of those who a mentally unsound and also victims of either drug or alcohol abuse. All these categorically fall under the problem of dual diagnosis.

Critical problems

The list of psychiatric problems faced by someone with dual diagnosis is a big one. It is not just one problem but a wide range of problems in one form or the other.

The National Institute of Mental Health has played a broader role to detect a series of mental ailments associated to the persons suffering from addiction.

The common problem is suffering from unnecessary anxiety. This covers more or less 90% of patients.

Personality disorder or what we medically call as schizophrenia has been detected in around 10% of drug abusers.

Antisocial instinct has been seen in 15% cases.

Panic problem and obsession and phobias cover 10 to 15% of the patients.

Precisely you can make out that drug abuse and mental unhealthiness are complementary to each other. Thus the treatment must be devised exactly with a proper orientation under the supervision of a rehab center.