Definition

In 1990, the Interministerial initiative on Dual Diagnosis (Ministries of Health and Community and Social Services) used the following definition for funding requests: "Individuals who have a diagnosed emotional/psychiatric disturbance as well as a diagnosed developmental disability." Developmental Disability was defined as: "A condition of mental impairment present or occurring during a person's formative years that is associated with limitations in adaptive behaviour". This definition has been found to be problematic in implementation because it requires a "diagnosis". An alternative definition that has been found to be acceptable to both the developmental services and mental health sectors as well as families and consumer survivors is "individuals with a developmental handicap and mental health needs".