Nathalia Garrido Torres*, Julio Piedra Cristobal and Juan Rosa Martin
Dual diagnosis can be defined as the simultaneous or sequential existence of an addictive disorder and another mental disorder throughout the life cycle. It is a category not recognized within the main reference manuals for psychiatric diagnosis, which makes it a clinical entity of enormous psychiatric, family and social complexity. This paper offers an analysis of the concept, etiopathology of dual diagnosis based on a scientific literature review. It also shows in a synthesized manner the main therapeutic guidelines for the comprehensive approach to this and its various comorbid disorders (alcohol addiction, substance abuse, anxiety and depression, psychotic disorders or eating disorders).
