ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses some troublesome behaviors, reasons for those behaviors, and ways of coping with them. It aims to assist dually diagnosed individuals and their families in understanding that acceptance of these two diseases is possible and necessary. The chapter focuses on abnormal versus normal behavior. For dually diagnosed individuals, the process is more complicated. For instance, individuals with bipolar disorder, who experience mood swings that are triggered by their brain chemistry and stressors, may enter a “manic” phase wherein they become overactive, talkative, sleepless, and busy. For individuals diagnosed with the antisocial personality disorder, getting over on someone represents far more than just managing to break the rules and not get caught. The power they exert in getting over on others enables them to soothe an internal sense of impotence.
