CAP CAP Co-Occurring Disorders 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which screening tool is commonly used to identify depression in clients seeking addiction treatment?
- AUDIT
- PHQ-9 (Correct answer)
- CAGE
- DAST-10
Correct answer: PHQ-9
The PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) is a validated, widely used tool for screening and measuring the severity of depression.
Question 2: Self-medication hypothesis in co-occurring disorders suggests that:
- Clients use substances to enhance therapy outcomes
- Substances are prescribed by physicians to manage psychiatric symptoms
- Individuals use substances to alleviate distressing psychiatric symptoms (Correct answer)
- Mental illness develops as a result of substance use only
Correct answer: Individuals use substances to alleviate distressing psychiatric symptoms
The self-medication hypothesis proposes that individuals with untreated psychiatric symptoms use substances to reduce or manage their distress.
Question 3: Which approach is considered best practice for treating clients with co-occurring disorders in the US?
- Sequential treatment
- Parallel treatment
- Integrated dual diagnosis treatment (Correct answer)
- Abstinence-only treatment
Correct answer: Integrated dual diagnosis treatment
Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (IDDT) is recognized as the evidence-based best practice for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
Question 4: Trauma-informed care is especially important for clients with co-occurring disorders because:
- Trauma history is rare among this population
- Most co-occurring disorders are genetic, not trauma-related
- High rates of trauma are found among those with both substance use and mental health disorders (Correct answer)
- Trauma treatment should be deferred until sobriety is established
Correct answer: High rates of trauma are found among those with both substance use and mental health disorders
Research consistently shows elevated rates of trauma exposure among individuals with co-occurring disorders, making trauma-informed approaches essential to effective treatment.
Question 5: A client with bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder enters treatment. The CAP counselor should:
- Focus exclusively on the alcohol use disorder first
- Collaborate with prescribers and address both conditions concurrently (Correct answer)
- Withhold all psychiatric medication until sobriety is achieved
- Refer out and end all counseling contact
Correct answer: Collaborate with prescribers and address both conditions concurrently
Best practice calls for a collaborative, integrated approach where both the bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder are addressed simultaneously with appropriate medical and counseling support.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'diagnostic overshadowing' in co-occurring disorder treatment?
- Accurately identifying both disorders simultaneously
- Misattributing psychiatric symptoms entirely to substance use, overlooking a primary mental disorder (Correct answer)
- Using one diagnosis to enhance treatment billing
- Screening for multiple disorders at intake
Correct answer: Misattributing psychiatric symptoms entirely to substance use, overlooking a primary mental disorder
Diagnostic overshadowing occurs when clinicians attribute all symptoms to one disorder (often substance use), failing to recognize the presence of a co-occurring mental health disorder.
CAP CAP Co-Occurring Disorders 2
Which screening tool is commonly used to identify depression in clients seeking addiction treatment?