Adfam has been funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust to carry out a detailed consultation with family members, to build an accurate and honest picture of the very real ways families are affected by dual diagnosis. By speaking with and listening to families, Adfam set out to understand what it is really like to have a loved one with a dual diagnosis, and what needs to be done to ensure the needs of families are met and not forgotten.

This report lays out the findings from this consultation. Many of the families reported very similar impacts to those affected by substance use alone, while some focused on impacts more specific to dual diagnosis. Where possible, this report focuses on the impacts that are specific to those with a dual diagnosis, but at times the overlap is so strong that the impacts cannot be distinguished. This is an important finding in and of itself, and its implications are discussed in the Comment chapter.