Comorbid conditions, sometimes called comorbidities, refer to the presence of multiple distinct health conditions or disorders.
Presentation of Comorbidities
Comorbidities can present in different ways. Simultaneous comorbidities occur at the same time. With sequential comorbidities, one condition precedes the other. Finally, cumulative comorbidities occur during the span of a person’s life, but not necessarily simultaneously.
Examples of Comorbidities
Comorbidities are common. Some examples of common comorbid mental health conditions include:
Anxiety and Depression
Research shows that comorbidities are common among psychiatric and mental health conditions. Two conditions that often co-occur are generalized anxiety and depressive disorders 1. To, research shows that these conditions co-occur in one in every four clinical cases.
Research suggests that anxiety and depressive disorders develop around the same time. For some, anxiety disorders develop during pre-adolescence and adolescence, and depression emerges during adolescence and adulthood. However, in some cases, certain anxieties, like social phobias, precede the development of depression.
Some experts believe that anxiety and depressive disorders are comorbid pairs, which means they share a root cause. However, others believe that anxiety and depression are not separate disorders, but are instead conditions that fall on the spectrum of internalizing disorders.
Mental Health Disorders and Chronic Physical Diseases
There is a relationship between chronic physical diseases and mental health disorders 1. Research shows that mental health disorders increase your risk of developing a chronic disease. And that people with mental health disorders tend to have one or more comorbid chronic physical diseases that aggravate their physical health and reduce their quality of care.
There may also be an inverse relationship, where people with chronic physical conditions, like cancer, stroke, and COPD, develop mental health disorders because of the impact or burden of their disease.
Alcoholism and Psychiatric Conditions
Alcohol abuse or dependence often co-occurs with mood disorders, like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders 2. Despite presenting with dual conditions, people in this group may not get the proper treatment for both conditions. The prevalence of psychiatric conditions appears higher in people with dependencies than users.
Impact of Comorbidities
Comorbidities are directly associated with increased health care costs. In the United States alone, approximately 80% of Medicare coverage claims are for comorbidities. Comorbidities are also associated with more challenging condition management. Healthcare providers may prescribe people with comorbidities more medications following disease-specific guidelines for treatment. People with high-burden comorbidities may experience adverse drug-drug and drug-disease interactions with their different medications 3. Additionally, multiple health conditions are associated with poorer health outcomes, especially if the comorbid conditions are chronic, progressive, or uncontrolled.