Anxiety Disorder

Question Description

I’m working on a health & medical discussion question and need support to help me learn.

peer responses. 60 words each. 2 references needed & cited. APA format.  PEER #1 CAMILLA 

A co-occurring disorder refers to when an individual has two or more mental health disorders and/or a substance abuse disorder. These co-occurring disorders may overlap and begin at the same time, or one may appear before or after the other. In 2019, 9.5 million American adults between the ages of 18 to 25 were diagnosed with at least one co-occurring disorders alongside a substance use disorder. Among this group, only 7.8% of them received treatment for both a substance use disorder and mental health disorders simultaneously (American Addiction Centers, 2021).

My older brother had an anxiety disorder early on in his life, but it went untreated and chalked up to be him being just a shy boy. Sadly, he started “self-medicating” with drugs around the age of 13 and by his late teens was being treated in drug rehab facilities. It wasn’t until his mid-twenties that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which in his late 30s he was told was a misdiagnosis.

One challenge for behavioral health providers working with the co-occurring disorders population is proper diagnoses. It can be hard to tell the difference between addiction and mental illness because how the symptoms can overlap (American Addiction Centers, 2021). I feel that much of my brother’s life was wasted not treating the right disorder. If earlier diagnosis had happened, perhaps he would have been able to get the treatment that would have saved his life