Can You Take Suboxone if You Have Schizophrenia?

Medically reviewed by Anna Kravtsov, D.O.

Written by Brett Lowell

Posted on November 4, 2026

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Key Takeaways

Schizophrenia and substance use disorders often occur together, and people with schizophrenia have a higher risk of developing opioid use disorders, making it important to understand how these conditions can be treated at the same time.
A medication called buprenorphine/naloxone can generally be taken alongside antipsychotic medications used for schizophrenia when carefully monitored by a healthcare provider. Research shows that treating both conditions together can lead to fewer emergency room visits, fewer hospitalizations, and better adherence to medications.
If you are living with both schizophrenia and a substance use disorder, talking openly with your healthcare team about all aspects of your health can help them create a personalized treatment plan that addresses your full range of needs and connects you with the right support.

View all takeaways

Schizophrenia and substance use disorders commonly occur together and are referred to as co-occurring disorders (CODs). Additionally, people with schizophrenia have a higher risk of developing opioid use disorders.

If you’re living with CODs, you might wonder whether you can take medications like buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone, Zubsolv). Co-occurring disorders can make diagnosis and treatment more difficult initially. However, the quality of care and the overall outcome of treatment is generally better when both disorders are treated at the same time.

In this article, we’ll discuss what buprenorphine/naloxone is, whether people with schizophrenia can take it, and how this medication fits into treatment.

🗳️ Have you ever taken buprenorphine/naloxone while living with schizophrenia?

Yes

No, but someone I know has taken it

What Is Suboxone?

Buprenorphine/naloxone is a prescription medication that’s used to treat opioid dependence. It’s used for people who have become dependent on drugs such as fentanyl, prescription painkillers, and heroin.

The two medications in this combination drug have different purposes:

Buprenorphine — This medication acts on the same receptors in the brain that opioids do but doesn’t create the strong high. This helps with withdrawal symptoms and reduces cravings.
Naloxone — This medication blocks the effects of opioids and causes withdrawal symptoms if a person tries to misuse buprenorphine/naloxone. For example, if a person injects buprenorphine/naloxone instead of taking it orally as prescribed, naloxone becomes more available in the bloodstream and can cause withdrawal symptoms in someone who is opioid dependent.

Buprenorphine/naloxone is typically used together with counseling and other forms of support.

Can People With Schizophrenia Take Suboxone?

In general, buprenorphine/naloxone can be taken alongside antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia under careful monitoring by a healthcare provider.

To determine whether buprenorphine/naloxone might be a good option for you, your healthcare providers must first conduct a full assessment and develop a treatment plan.

Screening and Assessing for Co-Occurring Disorders

The process of screening and assessing for CODs is an important step to ensure treatment addresses the full range of a person’s specific needs. During the screening process for CODs, the healthcare provider determines whether a person shows signs of both a mental health disorder and substance use problem.

If the screening shows signs of co-occurring disorders, the healthcare provider assesses the person’s symptoms and diagnoses. The assessment involves evaluating biological, psychological, and social factors.

Biological factors — A person’s medical conditions and their family’s medical history
Psychological factors — A person’s history of mental health issues and substance use as well as personal stressors and coping skills to handle them
Social factors — A person’s social circumstances, including relationships and level of social support, healthcare access, employment, and housing

Understanding these factors helps the healthcare provider determine what contributes to, worsens, and eases the person’s present symptoms and their current level of function.

Determining a Level of Care

Determining the level of care a person needs is an important part of the assessment process. To do this, providers will consider a person’s severity of symptoms, current level of function, and current social and living environment.

How Doctors Coordinate Treatment

By integrating care for both schizophrenia and substance use disorders, your healthcare team can provide a personalized treatment plan based on your unique needs. This approach can address both the physical and emotional aspects of CODs.

Integrated treatment for CODs generally leads to better care and treatment results. One recent study evaluated the effectiveness of an integrated treatment program designed to treat schizophrenia spectrum disorders and opioid use disorders (OUD) at the same time. The results showed that the program led to:

Reduced emergency room visits
Reduced number of hospitalizations
Shorter hospital stays
High adherence to medications for both OUD and schizophrenia

Goals of Integrated Care

Integrating treatment for CODs can help support the following goals:

Treating the full range of symptoms a person is experiencing from both schizophrenia and OUD
Providing continuity of care as a person moves through different treatments or levels of care
Ensuring that all providers involved in a person’s care discuss medications and monitor them for safety, effectiveness, and drug interactions.

What Treatment May Include

An important aspect of integrated treatment involves tailoring options to a person’s current stage and their goals. For example, treatment options may differ depending on whether a person is going through treatment for the first time, participating in active treatment, or trying to prevent a relapse.

Below are common treatment options for people living with CODs.

Medications

Schizophrenia is typically treated with antipsychotic medications that help decrease hallucinations and delusions.

Medications used to treat opioid use disorder (such as buprenorphine/naloxone) can be used alongside antipsychotic medications under the monitoring of a healthcare provider. Some research suggests that buprenorphine could also help with schizophrenia symptoms. However, larger-scale studies are needed to further evaluate these early findings.

Counseling

Various forms of counseling are common treatment options for people with CODs.

Cognitive behavior therapy — Helps people with schizophrenia change negative thought patterns and behaviors and teaches coping skills to help deal with the stress of schizophrenia
Addiction counseling — Promotes long-term recovery by helping people develop healthier thoughts and behaviors
Social skills therapy — Helps people improve their relationship with others and navigate everyday stressors more effectively
Motivational interviewing — Helps people achieve their goals, especially when first seeking treatment

Family Support

Family therapy includes a person’s loved ones in the treatment process. By learning more about schizophrenia and substance use disorders, family members can offer stronger support for their loved one.

Peer Support

Mutual-support programs involve people in recovery providing social and emotional support to one another. These programs allow peers to share their own experiences during recovery and offer tips about common challenges. Through shared experience, these programs help members stay in recovery and help newer members achieve recovery.

Case Management

Integrated case management is a model of care that seeks to form trusting relationships with people living with CODs. Case managers help people meet their basic needs (such as housing) and access services in their community. Integrated case management aims to provide each individual with consistent and intensive services.

Talk With Your Doctor About Substance Use

There are many reasons why people are hesitant to discuss substance use with a psychiatrist or healthcare provider. Some people may feel too embarrassed or view themselves negatively because of their substance use.

Others may fear the stigma attached to substance use or fear legal consequences. And yet others have friends or family members who also use substances.

If you’re struggling to have a conversation about substance use, remember that talking honestly with your healthcare team provides many benefits, such as:

Giving your care team a complete picture of your mental health and substance use so they can create an individualized treatment plan to address your full range of symptoms
Helping your doctors avoid drug interactions with medications they want to prescribe
Increasing your understanding of how substance use can worsen schizophrenia symptoms and interfere with effective management of mental health disorders
Allowing you to access treatments like buprenorphine/naloxone to help reduce the risk of opioid misuse, overdose, and death

While CODs can be difficult to treat, seeking integrated treatment for both disorders can help you achieve a full and healthy life.

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