How difficult is it to diagnose co-occurring mental health and alcohol use problems?
Proper screening is key, says Carol Edwards, an advanced practice nurse in the Addictions Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto: “It is important to screen mental health clients for alcohol misuse because the combination is so prevalent. Also, be alert to the possibility that mental health problems can exist with alcohol dependence.” Diagnosis is complicated by the fact that the signs and symptoms of alcohol dependence and alcohol withdrawal can mimic psychiatric disorders. Depressive symptoms and mood instability are common in people who use alcohol and other alcohol, so those people may often be misdiagnosed or diagnosed too early with a mood disorder, when in fact their mood symptoms are being driven by their use of alcohol or other drugs. Clinicians advise that when it is questionable whether an individual has a mood disorder, it is important to observe them over a period of abstinence to get a better sense of whether the mood disorder is separate
