Abstract
This project examined the patient population at Springfield Hospital Center in Carroll County, Maryland. The data range stretches from January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 and focuses on admission records. The study was intended to indicate the prevalence of co-occurring illnessesthe presence of both substance abuse issues and mental illness- as well as the combinations of substances as related to disorder, and frequencies or trends in how substances were abused among the various subgroups of mental illness. Because of the broad range and numerous breakdowns of data, it was difficult to draw any concrete conclusions, but the majority of admitted patients within the six month time period suffered from a psychotic disorder, as well as an addiction to alcohol. There is a high correlation between mental illness and substance abuse and a tendency to self-medicate, which often exacerbates the situation.