Hi Friend,,
It’s difficult enough if your loved one is struggling with a substance use disorder, but what if they also are struggling with mental health problems at the same time?
In the next episode of our year-long YouTube video series, Tonia, who is a peer parent coach at the Partnership, describes the link between her son’s mental health and substance use, and how hard it was to find effective treatment that took both issues into account.
“He had an underlying issue of ADHD, but he was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder,” Tonia says. “He had gone to treatment so many times, but the treatment centers really just ignored the diagnosis and treated him for substance use, and never even really talked about the bipolar disorder.”
Tonia and her son Rory’s challenge is not uncommon. In fact, 30-45% of adolescents and young adults with mental health disorders also have a substance use disorder. Many facilities offer treatment for co-occurring disorders, but it’s not always truly integrated care. For instance, some providers won’t work on mental health issues until a person stops using substances completely. Others simply have a nurse on hand to hand out psychiatric medications.
“The only time they really did treat him for the mental health issues was in jail,” says Tonia. “He spent three months in the jail just getting stable for his bipolar disorder, which is really telling since he had spent all these years in treatment for substance use, and that was all it took to get him stable with his mental health. It was also telling that the long-term treatment center would not take him until the jail stabilized him on his medications.”
You can watch this episode and previous episodes here on drugfree.org. This new video series will feature a variety of topics, voices and stories all year long.
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