By
SAMHSA's Co-Occurring Center for Excellence
Funding Area
Integrating Mental Health and Substance Use Services
Date
January 1, 2009
This overview of co-occurring disorder-related terms and definitions was prepared by the Co-Occurring Center for Excellence (COCE), which is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This is an overview of definitions and terms that practitioners should be familiar with to best address the needs of persons with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. COCE prepared this paper using the standard terms derived from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, Text Revision [DSM-IV-TR] [American Psychiatric Association 2000]. It includes distinctions between mental disorders and serious mental illnesses, lists of classes of substance use disorders, and major relevant categories of mental disorders, a four-quadrant model that provides a structure for integrating care for clients with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
Read the overview.