A concurrent disorder is the combination of both a mental health problem and a substance dependence or abuse problem. The prevalence of concurrent disorders among people with serious mental illness is higher than most people realize, and it can significantly impact symptoms and treatment.
Recent studies have shown that about half of all people with schizophrenia also have problems with drugs and alcohol, and up to 90% of people with schizophrenia are addicted to nicotine.
Even though it is so common, many people with schizophrenia and substance abuse issues have fallen through the cracks of the health care system. Mental health services may refuse treatment and services to a person with an active drug or alcohol addiction, and addiction professionals often believe that a person cannot recover from problem substance use until their mental disorder is treated . This has resulted in people with concurrent schizophrenia and substance use problems being bounced back and forth between mental health and addictions services, sometimes being refused treatment by either system. There is, however, a growing recognition among professionals and health care organizations of the problem of concurrent disorders, and more and more concurrent disorders services are becoming available.
To read more, please see the sections for Consumers, Family members and Service Providers.
What about prescribed medications? i feel like they’re helpful but i also feel like that they can potentially hold you back. I feel overcome with worry when i start to think about this. I haven’t smoke the weeds’ in quite a while, and not planing on doing so.
My head feels alot better
I’ve been clean for 3 months. What pushed me over the edge was the irrational fear I felt when I smoked the buds. I’m saving money and avoiding all sorts of secondary trouble that arose from my use. Now I want to give a rest to my dad, he spends a little fortune trying to support me every month and God knows his money would be better spent elsewhere like buying a country house to retreat to for example.
I’m a failure and have been dragging my parents alongside me all this time, it is partly for them that I became clean, but the paranoia stemming from drug use was too much to handle at times.
Why is it so hard for the professionals to understand that when one self-medicates, They only want to feel better?
I constantly asked my Pdoc if he was willing to try the Meds he prescribed me to know how it felt, he wouldn’t consider it.
Why can’t the pharmacies understand this as well?
If they actually made a pill that helped more than hurt, people would be willing to take their meds.
Win-win for all.
That sounds awful high. When I was regularly attending a partial hospitalization day program there were a good number of people there. While not all were schizophrenics, I’d say maybe 50% smoked, might have been lower.
Substance Abuse plus SZ will never work out. I am open to certain practices involving therapy involving certain psychedelia. I’ve heard of a lot of success stories from that practice. Only through professional treatment, as it could easily turn out harmful if you go in alone. It’s been practiced for centuries…way before Seroquel started making billions.