Comorbid psychiatric disorders occur when a patient has more than one mental illness. Substance abuse patients have a high incidence of comorbid disorders, often using drugs to self-medicate. Diagnosing and treating comorbid disorders is difficult, as symptoms can overlap. Treatment for comorbid disorders is the same as for individual disorders.
A comorbid psychiatric disorder is the term used for when a patient meets the diagnostic criteria for more than one mental illness. The substance abuse population has a high incidence of diagnoses of comorbid psychiatric disorders. Research has found that addicts often take drugs as a way to self-medicate for a coexisting mental illness. People without substance abuse problems may also be diagnosed with comorbid psychiatric disorder.
Depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and anxiety disorder are typical comorbid disorders seen in the Asperger’s population. One study also concluded that 26% of Asperger’s study subjects also had comorbid tic disorders. Asperger’s is a form of high functioning autism.
The difficulty of treating a patient with a comorbid psychiatric disorder lies in determining the existence of two or more disorders. Once individual disorders have been identified, mental health professionals also need to determine which disorder is causing which symptoms so that effective treatment can be offered. Because different mental illnesses have similar symptoms, it is important to determine whether a true comorbid psychiatric disorder exists in the client.
In some cases, what appears to be a comorbid psychiatric disorder is actually drug or alcohol addiction, which may give the appearance of comorbid problems. Mental health professionals must carefully extract all evidence of substance abuse and then determine whether there is still evidence of further mental illness. Often, when substance abuse issues are addressed, the perceived comorbidity issue disappears.
A diagnostic checklist is used to determine true comorbidity. The symptoms experienced by the client are held against the diagnostic criteria. While there is a possibility that symptoms overlap, the true comorbid disorder will show clear and distinct symptoms of more than one psychiatric illness.
Another feature of the comorbid disorder involves exaggerated symptoms of one of the disorders. In a client who is both an alcoholic and has an anxiety disorder, the alcoholic symptoms will be more prominent and severe than they would be in a client who has suffered from alcoholism alone. The manic phases of bipolar disorder can become more apparent when expressed by someone who is also an addict.
A study at a Korean university found that alcoholics with comorbid psychiatric disorders sought help from mental health professionals more often than did their uniquely alcoholic peers. Treatment for the comorbid disorder is the same as treatment for the individual disorders. Medications, therapy sessions, and other methods are employed to address each ailment. For example, for a patient with depression and addiction, antidepressants are usually combined with substance abuse treatment.
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