Raman Gopalakrishnan
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Suicidal Behavior in Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Dependence. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2010, 540 pages.

Dual Diagnosis Inpatient units specialize in the stabilization of concurrent psychiatric and substance use disorders. The high prevalence, complexity and severity of these disorders have been borne out in several national surveys. The temporal relationship between the disorders is unclear in most cases and therefore concurrent and integrated treatments are crucial to achieve optimal outcomes.
This chapter lists the common conditions encountered in the dual diagnosis unit. Given the scope of the subject, the list cannot be realistically expected to include all conditions. They are classified based on the nature of the symptoms. Under each symptom, the differential diagnoses and management strategies for each condition are discussed in some detail. Given the expertise, probably more weight is given to medical management; but enough cannot be said about the vital importance of psychosocial and aftercare services. A wide variety of resources are fortunately available for the intellectually curious.