Comorbidity of mental disorders and substance use: A brief guide for the primary care clinician

Abstract

Comorbidity or the co-occurrence of mental disorders and substance use disorders is common. However there are significant problems with the management of people with comorbidity and a dearth of evidence about best practice. This resource has been developed as a result of work that PARC undertook in 2001 with the development of a set of principles for the management of people with comorbidity. These principles are outline at the start of this resource. More detailed information about specific aspects of management of the different types of co-existing mental disorders and substance use problems then follows. The information available is patchy and much of it is not based on high levels of evidence. In addition many people with co-morbidity have more than one mental disorder and may have problematic use of several drugs. This resource is a simple guide for clinicians to start to work.