Dual Diagnosis Treatment by Telehealth: Co-Occurring Disorders
Integrated treatment for co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. Physician-led telehealth care in Washington and Nevada, treating both conditions together.
Integrated telehealth care for patients with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions. Available in Washington State and Nevada. Care is delivered by secure video visit in most locations. In-person visits may be required in the Tacoma, WA and Reno, NV areas.
What is dual diagnosis?
Dual diagnosis (also called co-occurring disorders) refers to the simultaneous presence of a substance use disorder and a mental health condition. The term covers a wide range of combinations: depression and alcohol use disorder, anxiety and opioid use disorder, ADHD and stimulant misuse, bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence, PTSD and opioid use disorder, and increasingly, anxiety or depression co-occurring with Kratom dependence.
The prevalence is higher than most people realize. According to SAMHSA, approximately 21.5 million adults in the United States have co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. Research published by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that roughly half of people with severe mental health conditions also have a substance use disorder, and vice versa.
Despite how common it is, co-occurring disorders are frequently treated in silos: mental health providers who do not address substance use, and addiction programs that do not adequately address mental health. The result is incomplete care that addresses one condition while leaving the other untreated, undermining the effectiveness of treatment for both.
Why integrated treatment works better
The relationship between mental health conditions and substance use disorders is bidirectional and reinforcing.
Mental health conditions can drive substance use. Someone with untreated anxiety may use alcohol to manage social situations or generalized worry. Someone with untreated depression may use opioids to temporarily suppress emotional pain. Someone with untreated ADHD may use stimulants to self-medicate concentration and attention difficulties. Someone with untreated anxiety or depression may turn to Kratom for its calming or mood-lifting effects. The substance becomes a coping mechanism for an underlying condition that has not been adequately addressed.
Substance use can worsen mental health. Chronic alcohol use disrupts serotonin and dopamine regulation, the same neurotransmitter systems affected in depression and anxiety. Opioid use and withdrawal produce significant anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation. Kratom withdrawal is frequently accompanied by prolonged anxiety and depression that can persist for weeks to months after cessation. The substance that started as a solution becomes part of the problem.
When only one condition is treated, the untreated condition undermines recovery from the other. A patient who achieves sobriety but still has untreated depression faces a powerful biological drive to return to the substance that previously relieved that depression. A patient whose psychiatric medications are adjusted but who continues to use alcohol faces both the direct effects of alcohol on brain chemistry and the disruption to medication stability.
Integrated treatment addresses both conditions simultaneously, with a provider who understands how they interact. This is what Rezolv Health provides.
Our approach to dual diagnosis
Rezolv Health does not run separate tracks for addiction and mental health. Both are addressed within a single clinical relationship, with a provider who has the training and context to manage the interaction between them.
Initial evaluation: A comprehensive intake that covers both your substance use history and your mental health history: symptoms, prior diagnoses, prior treatment, medications that have or have not worked. This is not two separate evaluations. It is one integrated assessment.
Treatment plan: A coordinated medication plan that addresses both conditions. This might mean buprenorphine for opioid use disorder alongside an SSRI for depression. Or naltrexone for alcohol use disorder alongside medication for anxiety. Or Kratom cessation support alongside treatment for underlying anxiety that the Kratom was managing. The medications are chosen with awareness of how they interact, and the plan is adjusted as both conditions evolve.
Ongoing monitoring: Periodic telehealth appointments that track progress on both fronts (substance use and mental health) and adjust the approach as needed.
Coordination with therapy: Medication management is most effective when combined with therapy for both conditions. Rezolv Health can coordinate with your existing therapist or provide referrals to therapists who specialize in co-occurring disorders.
Frequently asked questions
What is dual diagnosis?
How common are co-occurring disorders?
Why is integrated treatment more effective than treating each condition separately?
What conditions are treated under dual diagnosis at Rezolv Health?
Is dual diagnosis treatment covered by insurance?
What if I am not sure whether I have a mental health condition?
Can Rezolv Health manage complex psychiatric conditions?
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