What is Dual Diagnosis?
Dual-diagnosis happens when a person has both a substance-use disorder and a mental-health problem like anxiety, PTSD, or bipolar disorder. According to SAMHSA, these combined conditions are officially called co-occurring disorders and appear in roughly half of all people who meet DSM-5 substance-use criteria. Substance-use disorder means relying on alcohol or drugs despite negative effects on health, relationships, or daily life. Someone with alcohol dependence might drink to manage depression, while another using opioids might have untreated trauma. NIDA epidemiological studies estimate that about 8.4 million U.S. adults—figures echoed by NAMI—struggle with this overlap. Without treatment, both conditions get worse, leading to withdrawal, physical dependence, and severe mental-health problems. Best-practice care is Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) that blends Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) (e.g., buprenorphine or naltrexone) so that one multidisciplinary team tackles both issues simultaneously.
A study published by the American Journal of Public Health analyzing New Jersey’s substance-abuse treatment records found that only 21.9 % of patients with co-occurring mental-health disorders were accurately diagnosed within the addiction-treatment system. Of those identified, 57.9 % were referred for mental-health treatment. This gap highlights why SAMHSA now funds state IDDT roll-outs and why clinicians are urged to adopt universal screening tools rooted in DSM-5 criteria.

















































