Concepts & Definitions
This term describes when substance use temporarily produces symptoms similar to a mental disorder, complicating clinical interpretation.
What is substance-induced symptom presentation?
This period is often required before diagnosing a mental disorder to separate substance effects from baseline symptoms.
What is a period of sustained abstinence?
This treatment approach combines psychotherapy and medication with regular monitoring for both psychiatric symptoms and substance use.
What is coordinated care?
This mindfulness practice helps individuals notice urges without automatically reacting, decreasing relapse risk.
What is urge awareness?
A client reports using alcohol to “feel normal” because of constant worry. Which disorder is most likely contributing to the alcohol use?
What is an anxiety disorder?
This model explains how biological vulnerability, psychological stress, and environmental factors contribute to co-occurring disorders.
What is the biopsychosocial model?
Mood disorders may be misdiagnosed in individuals withdrawing from stimulants because withdrawal often mimics this depressive symptom cluster.
What is anergia, anhedonia, and psychomotor slowing?
Clients with trauma histories often require this type of therapeutic framework to prevent re-traumatization during treatment.
What is trauma-informed care?
Clients learn to replace catastrophic thinking with balanced statements using this CBT skill.
What is cognitive restructuring?
A person with PTSD reports increased cravings after nightmares. Which coping skill could help reduce this sleep-related trigger?
What is grounding before bed or trauma-informed relaxation?
This phenomenon occurs when a person uses substances to cope with mental health symptoms, which in turn worsen due to the substance use.
What is a negative reinforcement cycle?
Clinicians differentiate primary mental illness from substance-induced symptoms by examining this factor—the order in which symptoms appeared.
What is temporal onset?
This evidence-based therapy targets both emotional dysregulation and impulsivity, making it useful for co-occurring disorders involving self-harm.
What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?
This DBT skill uses sensory experiences to lower emotional intensity quickly when someone is overwhelmed.
What is TIP or distress tolerance (Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing)?
A client shows mood swings and irritability after stopping cocaine. What should a clinician consider before diagnosing bipolar disorder?
What is stimulant withdrawal effect?
This term refers to the intensified severity and complexity when two disorders interact rather than simply coexist.
What is synergistic comorbidity?
This type of diagnostic bias occurs when clinicians focus too heavily on substance use and overlook underlying psychiatric conditions.
What is diagnostic overshadowing?
Combining motivational interviewing with cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective because it addresses both ambivalence and this key behavioral target.
What is maladaptive thinking?
Creating a detailed plan of high-risk situations and corresponding coping strategies is known as this type of relapse prevention tool.
What is an anticipatory coping plan?
A person avoids group therapy because they’re embarrassed about relapsing. Which motivational interviewing strategy might help?
What is exploring ambivalence or affirming self-efficacy?
This type of tolerance occurs when the brain adapts to chronic substance use in a way that also alters emotional regulation.
What is neuroadaptive tolerance?
When both disorders influence each other over time, determining which symptoms belong to which diagnosis becomes difficult, a challenge called this.
What is symptom entanglement?
Integrated treatment reduces relapse by improving communication between providers, eliminating this problem where clients receive contradictory advice.
What is fragmented care?
Tracking mood, sleep, substance use, and stress together helps identify this complex pattern that often precedes relapse.
What is a behavioral chain?
A client experiences escalating cravings after arguments with a partner and then feels guilty, which leads to more substance use. What cycle is occurring?
What is the emotional-trigger relapse cycle?