Substance use
People who experience problems with alcohol and other drugs may also experience mental health issues. This is called 'dual diagnosis’. Perhaps the mental illness prompted the person to misuse drugs, or else the drug problem pre-dated the mental illness. The substance use could also worsen the symptoms of the person’s mental illness – for example, smoking marijuana can trigger a psychotic episode in some people. About 35 per cent of Australians with a substance use disorder also experience any mental health disorder