1) Co-occurring disorders means when a person has mental health problems as well as drug or alcohol problems.

True. Often a person with a mental illness will try to feel better by using drugs or alcohol. When people take drugs or alcohol to try to help their mental health problems, this is called having "co-occurring disorders."

2) Another way of saying "co-occurring disorders" is "dual-diagnosis."

True. "Dual-diagnosis" is how doctors describe a person who has both a mental illness and a drug and alcohol problem.

3) Drugs or alcohol can help a person with mental illness feel better.

False. Drugs and alcohol may help in the very short term -- which is why people try them -- but in the long term, they can only make a person's mental health much worse.

4) Co-occurring disorders are not very common.

False. Twenty-nine percent of people with mental illness abuse either alcohol or drugs. Thirty-seven percent of alcohol abusers and 53 percent of drug abusers also have a serious mental illness.

5) It's obvious if a person has both a mental illness and a substance abuse problem.

False. It can be very difficult for a doctor to figure out if someone has co-occurring disorders. Sometimes, a mental illness can seem like a drug or alcohol problem; and sometimes a drug or alcohol problem can seem like a mental illness.

6) To treat the mental illness, the drug or alcohol problem must first be treated.

True. The first step to helping someone with co-occurring disorders is "detoxification." This means helping the person to clean the alcohol or drugs from his body.

7) To get off of drugs or alcohol, people have to go "cold turkey."

False. Until recently, this was true. Nowadays, doctors can give people medicine to make coming off of drugs or alcohol easier. But this has to be done in a hospital.

8) Once the person has come off of drugs or alcohol, the mental illness will go away.

False. Once the drug or alcohol problem has been treated, the mental illness -- such as depression, or bipolar disorder, or anxiety disorder -- will still be there. A doctor will have to treat the mental illness while also helping the person to stay off the alcohol or drugs.

9) People with co-occurring disorders can be violent.

True. Anyone who abuses drugs or alcohol can be violent.

10) Therapy is helpful for people with co-occurring disorders.

True. The "Twelve Step," program, for example, can give people support and help them to better understand their feelings.