Understanding the condition
What are co-occurring disorders?
Co-occurring disorders, often called dual diagnosis, describe addiction alongside another mental health condition such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress. It is common: many people who seek help for addiction are also living with a second condition.
Each can feed the other. Alcohol, drugs or compulsive behaviours may begin as a way to cope with low mood, anxiety, poor sleep or painful memories, and over time can deepen those same difficulties. Treating only one side often leaves the other to pull a person back.
Because the two are intertwined, it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. A careful assessment, followed by a single plan that treats both together, gives recovery its best footing.
Recognising the signs
Signs of co-occurring disorders
Recognising some of these does not mean you have a dual diagnosis.
A confidential conversation with a clinician can help you understand what you are experiencing, and what support, if any, would help.
- Drinking, using or a compulsive behaviour to manage mood, anxiety, sleep or memories
- Low mood, worry or panic that persists or worsens when you cut down
- Difficulty concentrating, restlessness or impulsivity that has been there since childhood
- Previous treatment for addiction or mental health that didn’t hold
- Changes in eating, weight or body image alongside substance use
- Withdrawing from people, work or activities that once mattered
- Feeling that no single explanation fits what you are going through
Including depression and bipolar disorder, where mood is stable enough for residential, non-hospital care. Low mood and substance use often reinforce each other, and treatment addresses both together.
Including generalised anxiety, panic and social anxiety. Many people use alcohol or sedatives to quieten anxiety, which brings short-term relief and longer-term harm. Treatment builds other ways to manage it.
Past trauma is common among people with addiction. Treatment is paced carefully, building stability and coping skills before deeper trauma work.
Undiagnosed or untreated ADHD can drive impulsivity and self-medication. Assessment and treatment planning take account of both conditions, including how any ADHD medication is managed safely.
Where eating difficulties occur alongside addiction and the client is medically stable for non-hospital care. Treatment includes nutritional support and close medical monitoring.
Chronic stress, burnout and strained relationships often sit beneath addiction. We work on the patterns and pressures that keep them in place, with family involvement where it helps.
Clinical Team
Individualised careby experienced hands
We are honoured to walk alongside families and individuals as they navigate recovery and rebuild meaningful, connected lives.
Safety first
Psychiatric careand medication
When alcohol or drugs stop, symptoms they were masking can surface or change, and some medicines interact with substances. Your psychiatrist reviews any medication you take on admission and adjusts your plan as your recovery progresses.
All medication is dispensed by our on-site pharmacy and nursing team, in line with Ministry of Health guidelines, so client-supplied medication can’t be used during your stay. Please don’t stop or change prescribed medication before admission without medical advice.
If you are having thoughts of ending your life, call 995 or the Samaritans of Singapore on 1767, or your country’s emergency services hotline.
Treatment
Our approach to dual diagnosis treatment
Dual diagnosis care works best when one team treats both conditions together, rather than one after the other. That is how our programme is built.
Treatment begins with a 28-day residential stay at our restored heritage residence in Changi, followed by a 12-week intensive outpatient programme. This 16-week programme supports you through the months after residential care, when you are putting new habits into practice in everyday life.
A detailed psychiatric assessment to understand which symptoms are linked to substance use and which need treatment in their own right, with regular psychiatric review, a comprehensive blood panel and 24-hour on-site nursing.
One-to-one counselling, daily process groups and skills workshops to understand your patterns, manage difficult emotions and plan for high-risk situations.
EEG neurofeedback, attention training, TMS (iTBS) and cognitive remediation, designed to strengthen attention, impulse control and emotional regulation.
Mindfulness, personal training, sleep support and nutrition, rebuilding the routines that both addiction and mental health conditions disrupt.
Addiction and mental health goals sit in a single treatment plan, reviewed regularly by the whole team, so progress in one area supports the other.
Before you leave, we coordinate with your psychiatrist and outpatient providers in Singapore or your home country, so medication and therapy continue without a gap. The Winslow Recovery App supports you for a year after the programme.
For families
When someone you love is struggling
When a loved one is living with both addiction and a mental health condition, it can be hard to know what is the illness and what is the person. Families often feel worn down, unsure what to say, and worried about saying the wrong thing. These feelings are understandable, and you don’t have to work through them alone.
We offer confidential guidance for families, including how to raise the subject of treatment with care. Our team understands both Asian and Western family dynamics, and the particular sensitivities of high-profile families. During treatment, families take part through weekly therapist-led family groups and individual family therapy, in person or securely online.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to questions people often ask about dual diagnosis and treatment.
Dual diagnosis, also called co-occurring disorders, means living with an addiction and another mental health condition at the same time, such as alcohol dependence with depression, or drug use with anxiety or trauma.
It varies. Sometimes a mental health condition comes first and substances are used to cope; sometimes substance use triggers or worsens symptoms. Often both develop together. Assessment helps untangle this, but treatment doesn’t need to wait for a definitive answer.
Care that treats both conditions together, by one team, usually works better than treating them separately. That typically combines psychiatric care, psychological therapy and support for daily routines and relationships, sustained over time.
Your psychiatrist will review all your medication on admission and decide with you what continues. During your stay, medication is dispensed by our on-site pharmacy and nursing team, and charged separately.
Yes, alongside addiction, when you are medically stable for residential, non-hospital care. If an eating disorder needs hospital-based or specialist treatment first, we will tell you and help you find it.
The Winslow is not an emergency or acute psychiatric service. If you are at immediate risk, call 995 or go to your nearest emergency department. Once you are stable, we can talk about whether our programme is right for you.
The programme runs for 16 weeks: a 28-day residential stay followed by a 12-week intensive outpatient programme. Depending on clinical need and progress, residential extensions of one to four weeks are common.
Some private insurance policies may offer partial coverage. We can provide supporting documentation for claims on request. Please check with your insurer directly. See our fees and inclusions.
Yes. Treatment is delivered in English, and the programme includes visa support and airport transfers. Most nationalities can enter Singapore visa-free for 30 to 90 days. When you return home, we coordinate a handover to providers there so your care continues.
Speak with a clinician
If you’re considering treatment for yourself or someone you care about, a confidential conversation can help clarify whether The Winslow is the right fit.
Our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.