Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs

Running head: COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH, ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS 1
Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs
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COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH, ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS 2
Select and research two commonly co-occurring disorders. Your essay should address how
these co-occurring disorders develop, their impact, and how they are best managed
Co-occurring disorders describe the presence of both mental health and a substance use
disorder (Ogloff, Talevski, Lemphers, Wood & Simmons, 2015). The commonly co-occurring
disorders are alcohol addiction and Schizophrenia together with heroin addiction and depression.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is admitted to be as a result of chemical imbalance in the
brain which affects how an individual perceives the world around them (Hing, Russell,
Gainsbury & Nuske, 2016). That is, persons with this disorder will hear, smell and see things that
are not there. Individuals with a mental health disorder are most likely to develop alcoholism due
to the manner in which some diseases interact with alcohol.
Several risk factors lead to the development of an alcohol use disorder in patients after
they had been diagnosed with schizophrenia disorder (Nielsen, Toftdahl, Nordentoft & Hjorthøj,
2017). Mental and socioenvironmental factors subscribe to the co-occurrence of schizophrenia
and alcohol use disorder. Patients with this co-occurring disorder say that they take alcohol to
attenuate the extensive dysphoria of psychological disorder, insufficient chances, boredom along
with poverty (DeVylder et al., 2015). Also, they add that the use of alcohol facilitates the
development of a social network and identity. Although these people live primarily in the
community instead of living in the hospital, they have restricted entertainment, social and
vocational opportunities due to their illness, segregation and stigma. Moreover, they have faced
downward social drift into poor urban living settings in which they are profoundly and frequently
susceptible to alcohol use substance abusing networks (DeVylder et al., 2015).

COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH, ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS 3
The other factor that leads to the development of schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder
is biological factors (Hartz et al., 2017). Three potential biological factors facilitate the
development of this disorder. The underlying neuropathological malformations of schizophrenia
are thought to promote the reinforcing impacts of substance abuse. A regular neurological basis
for schizophrenia and the reinforcing implications of alcohol use may incline individuals to both
states. The standard base encompasses the dysregulation of the neurotransmitter dopamine, and
that explains the reason behind preferring drugs like a class of antipsychotic medications and
nicotine by individuals with schizophrenia that increases the transmission of dopamine in some
of the brain regions (Hartz et al., 2017).
The other organic factor proposes that individuals with schizophrenia are susceptible to
the adverse psychotic impacts of alcohol use since the syndrome of schizophrenia generates
debilitated thinking and social judgment along with deficient management of impulse (Hartz et
al., 2017). Therefore, even when taking comparatively minute quantities of psychoactive
contents, these individuals are vulnerable to thrive valuable content associated with detectable
issues that certify them for an alcohol use disorder diagnosis. Finally, researchers and clinicians
have declared that persons with schizophrenia use alcohol to alleviate the side impacts of the
antipsychotic drugs stipulated for schizophrenia or its symptoms (Moncrieff, 2018).
The reason behind the impacts of alcohol abuse is because it is a central nervous system
depressant (Peacock et al., 2016). People with schizophrenia feel relieved once they use alcohol
since it dulls their senses and they become unaware of everything that is happening around them.
Using alcohol does not just relax most cases of schizophrenia, but it also gives a break from
whatever they have seen the whole day although studies show that alcohol can have a greater
euphoric impact on them compared to individuals who don’t have the illness (Peacock et al.,

COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH, ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS 4
2016). The alcohol use disorder affects a person with schizophrenia in every way it would affect
someone without the disease straining their health and relationships. Also, symptoms resulting
from withdrawing can make their hallucinations worse adding additional pain to whatever they
hear and see (Peacock et al., 2016).
Hospitalization, homelessness, suicide attempts and unemployment are the most common
effects of schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder (Kalmakis & Chandler, 2015). Patients with
schizophrenia and alcohol use disorders leave a safe place such as a hospital and stay on the
streets making them be involved in medications rarely. When they don't take drugs, they end up
trying alcohol to manage the symptoms of the disorder. Homelessness can be triggered by
inadequate funding that creates a shortage of institutions to house patients with schizophrenia
(Kalmakis & Chandler, 2015). Patients with schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder are socially
isolated and stigmatized and can lead to suicide attempts. Also, hopelessness, hospitalization and
health deterioration are vital risk factors that can contribute to suicide. These people fear further
mental decline and they show either excessive treatment dependence or loss of faith in
medication (Kalmakis & Chandler, 2015).
The co-occurring disorder of alcohol use and schizophrenia disorder can be managed by
using multidisciplinary medical staff that delivers overextend, inclusive services along with
stage-wise medications (Gannon & Eack, 2016). Overextend is required since victims are always
demoralized and hesitant to be involved in medication. Full services are essential since
improvement incorporates building expertise and support to seek for a life that is worthwhile
instead of controlling illness and symptoms. Furthermore, stage-wise medication concludes that
victims recuperate from two severe diseases in stages, over time and with assistance from those
individuals who give medications (Gannon & Eack, 2016). To best manage this disorder, patients