Estimated rates of co-occurring mental illness among adolescents with substance use disorders range from 60 to 75 percent.1 Among adolescents with no prior substance use, the rates of first-time use of drugs and alcohol in the previous year are higher in those who have had a major depressive episode than in those who did not.2 Other commonly documented co-occurring mental disorders include conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.3
There is always much speculation about what presents first in the youth’s life, the substance use or the mental health challenges. It can happen either way and what we do know is that undiagnosed mental health problems can lead to self-medicating with substances.
Learn more about mental health and substance abuse for youth.
Resources
Blamed and Ashamed The Treatment Experiences of Youth with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders and Their Families (PDF, 70 pages)
This report presents the findings of a two-year project intended to document and summarize the experiences of youth with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problems and their families. The purposes of this study were to offer youth and their families the opportunity to reflect on and give voice to their experiences, to identify their successes and concerns, and to formulate recommendations so that a national audience might learn from their experience and improve services. The work was funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by two family-run organizations — the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, Alexandria, Virginia, and Keys for Networking, Inc., Topeka, Kansas.
1Turner, Muck, Muck, Stephens, & Sukumar, 2004; Hoffmann, Bride, MacMaster, Abrantes, & Estroff, 2004
2Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2010
3Turner et al., 2004; Hoffman et al., 2004; Shrier, Harris, Kurland, & Knight, 2003
4SAMHSA, 2010
5SAMHSA, 2010
6U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007
Map My Community is a tool designed specifically to assist you in locating resources in your community to help you build and strengthen your youth program. Get ideas for new partnerships, identify gaps in your community, and learn about resources to avoid duplication of effort.
FindYouthInfo.gov is the U.S. government Web site that helps you create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. Included are youth facts, funding information, and tools to help you assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and keep up-to-date on the latest, youth-related news.