Dual Diagnosis: Addiction And Other Conditions

Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Bipolar Disorder

In most situations, addiction does not exist in a vacuum; people with addictions often struggle with other issues (e.g., home and work relationships, financial problems) and mental health conditions.

Sometimes, addiction results from a person's attempt to self-treat an undiagnosed or treatment-resistant mental health problem. For example, an individual whose family or community stigmatizes or dismisses mental illness may not seek help from a psychiatrist; rather, they may turn to alcohol or drugs as a way to lessen or escape from distressing or debilitating symptoms. This is a particularly common path for people who have experienced a traumatic event, or suffer from chronic anxiety or depressed mood. In other cases, addicts may feel anxious, paranoid, depressed, or even psychotic or suicidal as a result of chronic abuse of substances like cocaine, or the social, emotional, career, and relationship repercussions of any addiction (including process addictions).

Which comes first – an addiction or related psychiatric conditions – is not always clear cut; in some cases, the two evolve simultaneously and even reinforce each other. Below you will find a list of some of the conditions that we treat at the UCLA Dual Diagnosis Program. As part of our outpatient program, we provide medication management, psychotherapy, and other treatment services.

To enroll in the program or obtain more information, please call
(310) 983-3598 or visit the Contact Us page.