# Guide to Dual Diagnosis Treatment Programs

By 2015, SAMHSA unearthed that 51.2% of Americans age 18 and over engaged in illicit drug use. They breakdown the percentages of the population by type of drug use as follows:

46.9% used marijuana
15.9% used cocaine – with 3.7% having used crack cocaine
2.1% used heroine
16.5% used hallucinogens – with 10.3% having used LSD, 2.6% having used PCP and 7.4% having used ecstasy
9.7% used inhalants
5.9% used methamphetamines.
Overall, illicit drug use besides marijuana reached 30.1% of the population.

**Mental Illness and Substance Abuse**

Drug use is widely known to have deleterious effects, both short- and long- term and on the person and town at large. From heart attacks, kidney and liver failure, hepatitis and AIDS, medical conditions that drug users risk are severe.

Even though drug use doesn't lead to physical ailment, it could lead to behavioral changes and impaired decision making that affects one's own life course and the course of **[www.alcoholdrugrehabs.com/rehab-centers/crossroads-of-southern-nevada/](https://www.alcoholdrugrehabs.com/rehab-centers/crossroads-of-southern-nevada/)** these around them: “Drug use can [affect] a person's nutrition; sleep; decision-making and impulsivity; and risk for trauma, violence, injury, and communicable diseases. Drug use also can affect babies born to women who use drugs while pregnant. Broader negative outcomes may be seen in education level, employment, housing, relationships, and criminal justice involvement,” the National Institute on Drug Abuse explains.

With risks this dangerous, it begs the question: why are very many American adults using drugs?


The solution is not simple, of course. For many years scientists and researchers have studied the character of addiction and environmentally friendly landscapes that will put someone at risk for drug use. But only recently have studies taken into account the Biopsychosocial model, and started looking more inward at the person risk that mental health issues carry for drug use.

Pre-existing and untreated mental health disorders with **[alcoholdrugrehabs.com](https://www.alcoholdrugrehabs.com/)** can be quite a strong risk factor for drug use. Based on the SAMHSA report, in 2015, 17.9% of the adult American population experienced a mental illness before year. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health, reports from that over 7.9 million adult Americans experience both a mental disorder and substance abuse disorder simultaneously.

**Integrated Treatment**

The amount of people experiencing undiagnosed mental illness is unknown. Given the historical stigma surrounding mental illness — with negative portrayals in media like television and film — as well as the historical not enough funding, research and resources for most people, it is no surprise that numerous people suffer alone and unaware. It was just 77 years back, in 1952, that the first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, was created.

Given these numbers, we are able to see why many individuals experiencing mental illness may self-medicate through illicit drug use. Outward indications of depression, anxiety, agitation, confusion and legitimate pain can lead many, unacquainted with additional options, to turn to drugs for relief. Their drug use, unfortunately, leads to even worsening symptoms of mental health when the person experiences withdrawal and, if the drug use continues, their lives become less directed and chosen and more controlled by their addiction.