Question

Why is it important to correctly diagnose a substance use disorder, and the client be clean of substances before you make a solid diagnosis of another mental illness?

Answer 1

Substance use disorders generally involve behavior patterns in which people continue to use a substance despite having problems caused by its use. There are a number of disorders whose symptoms might mimic substance use disorder. It is important to offer a correct diagnosis for treatment to be effective. For example, some of the Symptoms of substance use disorders are the same as depressive or anxiety disorders. A diagnosis of depression in this case will not be helpful as the root cause is being overlooked. Similarly, a person may be wrongly diagnosed with a substance use disorder when in reality the anxiety is the actual cause of the substance use. Thus, it is important to make an accurate diagnosis for treatment to be effective.

Use of substances also leads to Substance Induced Mental Disorders. These conditions stem from toxicity, the poisonous nature of the substance (leading to, for example, amphetamine delusional disorder, alcoholic intoxication, or cannabis delirium), or physiological changes in the brain due to vitamin deficiency. Thus, for an individual to be diagnosed with another mental disorder it is important that the symptoms should not be caused by a substance. For example, use of substance can lead to hallucinations which are a chief symptom of schizophrenia. For the individual to actually have schizophrenia, the hallucinations should not be substance induced.