What is a Co-occurring Disorder?
A co-occurring disorder occurs when an individual has both a primary mental illness and a primary substance use disorder. The term “primary” indicates that the person has a stand alone diagnosis that is present regardless of whether they have another disorder. Because COD is more complex than mental illness or substance abuse alone, effective treatment involves responding to these mutually interacting disorders • at the same time • in an integrated way. An individual with COD is best served by a single clinician or program so that both the mental illness and the substance use disorder can be treated together.
