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New Release |
Date: | January 31, 2005 |
| Media Contact: | SAMHSA Media | |
| Phone: | 240-276-2130 |
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Many
Patients Have Co-Occurring Mental and Substance Abuse Disorders -- Both Must Be
Addressed for Successful Treatment
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Co-occurring
substance abuse and mental disorders are more common than most
professional counselors, medical personnel or the general public
realize. A new Treatment
Improvement Protocol (TIP) released today by the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimates that 50-75
percent of patients in substance abuse treatment programs have
co-occurring mental illness while 20-50 percent of those treated in
mental health settings have co-occurring substance abuse.
Most people with co-occurring disorders do not receive treatment
for both mental disorders and substance abuse.
Many receive no treatment of any kind. The new
Treatment Improvement Protocol is designed for substance abuse treatment
counselors and mental health providers who usually treat one or the
other of the two ailments, but it will also be useful for
administrators, primary care providers, criminal justice staff and other
health care and social service personnel who work with people with
co-occurring disorders. Substance
Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders, TIP
42, provides counselors with principles, assessment instruments,
strategies, settings and models for treating patients wherever they show
for treatment, whether it be in substance abuse treatment facilities,
mental health facilities or medical offices or clinics.
TIP 42, created by a panel of experts and reviewed in the field,
also emphasizes that outcomes for patients are enhanced when both
illnesses are addressed using an integrated approach. “All
too often individuals are treated only for one of the two disorders –
if they receive treatment at all,” SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie
said. “If one of the
co-occurring disorders remains untreated, both usually get worse.
Additional complications often arise, including the risk for
other medical problems, suicide, unemployment, homelessness,
incarceration, and separation from families and friends.”
“Since
people with co-occurring disorders cannot separate their addiction from
their mental disorder, they should not have to negotiate separate
service delivery systems,” Curie said. “We know that with
appropriate treatment and supportive services people with co-occurring
disorders can and do recover. This
is the premise of TIP 42. ” SAMHSA’s
2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that 27.3 percent of
persons 18 and older in the past year with serious mental illness used
an illicit drug. In 2003,
the survey also found that 5.7 million persons ages 18 and over with
serious mental illness engaged in binge alcohol use and 1.9 million were
heavy drinkers. Overall, the
survey showed that about 4.2 million adults aged 18 and older met the
medical criteria for both substance abuse and mental illness. The
consensus panel that created the document is encouraging development of
a unified substance abuse and mental health approach.
Emphasis is placed on assisting substance abuse treatment systems
to develop the capacity to treat individuals with co-occurring disorders
while mental health systems develop similar capacities. This Treatment Improvement Protocol is part of
SAMHSA’s promise to Congress following the November 2002 Report to
Congress on the Prevention and Treatment of Co-Occurring Substance Abuse
Disorders and Mental Disorders to document state-of-the-art
treatment for individuals with co-occurring mental and substance abuse
disorders. Along with the TIP, SAMHSA has created a State Incentive Grant for Co-Occurring Disorders to help states enhance their infrastructure and treatment systems; established a national co-occurring disorders prevention and treatment technical assistance and cross-training center, the Co-Occurring Center for Excellence, to provide a broad array of information on co-occurring disorders to states and community providers in the substance abuse, mental health and related public health fields; and increased federal agency collaboration within HHS to enhance research attention to co-occurring disorders. SAMHSA has also broadened the agency’s efforts to
identify and disseminate known effective programs for prevention and
treatment of co-occurring disorders, including the development of a new
tool kit on treating co-occurring disorders; increased collaboration
between SAMHSA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to explore ways
to use existing reimbursement mechanisms for services to people with
co-occurring disorders; and convened two National Policy Academies on
Co-Occurring Disorders to help states and communities enhance service
capacity. The TIP
panel was chaired by Stanley Sacks, Ph.D., of the National Development
and Research Institutes, Inc., TIP
42, inventory number BKD515, can be ordered through SAMHSA's
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), |
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SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States. |
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