Tackling Addiction With Mental Health in Mind

Available with English captions and subtitles in Spanish.

Addiction and mental health challenges are often deeply connected. This on-demand training explores their intersection and provides strategies for integrated treatment, recovery, and long-term support.

Why This Training Matters

  • Addiction and mental health conditions commonly co-occur.
  • Treating one without the other often leads to relapse or incomplete recovery.
  • Integrated care models can improve outcomes for individuals and communities.

What You’ll Learn

  • How mental health and addiction intersect and influence one another
  • Common challenges in diagnosis and treatment
  • Practical tools for integrated care and recovery

Who Should Watch

This training is designed for health care professionals, community and public health leaders, families, and caregivers. Anyone supporting recovery and mental health in individuals and communities will find useful tools and strategies here.

Event Details

  • Expert Presenter: Rocco Iannucci, MD
  • Format: 60-minute recorded training

Watch now and learn integrated strategies for addiction and mental health recovery.

Topics Covered During This Training

  • Is there a distinction between substance use disorder (SUD) and addiction?
  • Are there certain key criteria that clinicians use to diagnose substance use disorder?
  • When we’re talking about this diagnosis of SUD, does that involve both alcohol and drug addiction?
  • Can you share your perspective on the prevalence of substance use disorder?
  • What should we know about the basic brain science behind addiction?
  • Do genetics and environment both play a role in terms of risk factors?
  • From a clinical perspective, what does co-occurrence mean?
  • Can you give us a sense of how common or uncommon it is for someone with substance use disorder to also have a co-occurring condition?
  • Is it possible for genetic vulnerabilities to play a role in co-occurrence as well?
  • What should we know about the difference between dependence and addiction?
  • To what degree does anxiety tend to co-occur with a substance use disorder? What stands out about that coupling?
  • Can substance use chemically exacerbate depression?
  • What can you tell us about the co-occurrence of PTSD and substance use disorder? Borderline personality disorder and SUD? Bipolar disorder and SUD?
  • In a case of co-occurring diagnoses, which disorder should be treated first—the substance use disorder or the other mental health disorder?
  • How prominent a role does cognitive behavioral therapy play in treating co-occurring conditions that involve substance use disorder?
  • In terms of pharmacological therapy, how do clinicians balance risks of dependency when prescribing medications?
  • Is there anything else you want to mention briefly regarding common treatment approaches for these co-occurring conditions?
  • Does integrated care typically involve multiple clinicians, and if so, how do you build that team?
  • How do peer-to-peer support groups and 12-step programs factor into this treatment model?
  • What do you want newer clinicians to take away from our conversation today in terms of addressing substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health conditions?

The information discussed is intended to be educational and should not be used as a substitute for guidance provided by your health care provider. Please consult with your treatment team before making any changes to your care plan.

Resources

You may also find this additional information useful:

About the Expert

Rocco A. Iannucci, MD, serves as director of McLean’s Fernside residential addiction treatment program, where he focuses on the integrated treatment of people with substance use disorders and other co-occurring mental health conditions.

He has published on the treatment of people with stimulant use disorder, with co-occurring bipolar disorder and addiction, and with co-occurring borderline personality disorder and substance use disorders.

Topics