What is a Dual Diagnosis?
Dual diagnosis can mean that a person concurrently suffers from two related conditions. For instance, a person who is schizophrenic and mentally retarded would have what is considered two related and concurrent conditions. More often though, the term dual diagnosis relates to people who suffer from mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, generalized anxiety disorder) and are also addicted to drugs or alcohol. This term has become one frequently used in certain alcohol and drug recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) because part of each condition can depend on the other. A person with depression may seek to self-medicate with a variety of drugs, and in so doing, tends to worsen his depression. Alternately, someone already taking prescribed medications for a condition might abuse them, or might concurrently take unprescribed medications, abuse alcohol or illegal drugs, which can significantly affect how well prescribed medications will work in allaying a m
Dual diagnosis, also known as co-occurring disorders, concurrent disorders or co-morbid disorders, is a term used to describe someone who is affected by both a chemical addiction (to drugs or alcohol) and a psychiatric or mental illness, including eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, compulsive eating or binge eating disorder.
