Here’s the second part in our series about the association between bipolar disorder and alcoholism.
We initially discussed how bipolar disorder can predispose any individual with the diagnosis with a huge risk. Those diagnosed with bipolar disorder are far more likely to develop a substance misuse or abuse disorder (“lifetime rates of substance use disorder in test populations of bipolar patients can run as high as 48.5% for alcohol and 44% for drugs”).
With the advent of dual diagnosis (the relationship between substance use disorder and mental health, which is now regularly treated in addiction recovery centers), luckily we live in a time where awareness about mental illness has become very important; a critical component of overall health.
It’s SO hard to deal with depression,. But with bipolar disorder, it can be difficult to feel depressed, and have instances where you feel upbeat — because this means that bipolar disorder is all-too-often misdiagnosed. Bipolar can bear a strong resemblance to unipolar depression. It may not seem that depression and bipolar are so different, but what happens when bipolar disorder is misdiagnosed? A misdiagnosis can mean that the individual is not being treated properly for their illness, and they might turn to substances for peace of mind (and ultimately, to block out the pain and sadness that a mental health diagnosis bring about). It ain’t easy.
Self-medicating, then, naturally lends itself to co-morbidity (the presence of both a mental illness and a substance use disorder disorder).
Substance use disorder can exacerbate the symptoms of both depression and mania. Manic symptoms can mean that an individual is more likely to be reckless and not think of the consequences, and far more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol as a result.
For example, let’s take benzodiazepines. Anxiety can be a common component of bipolar disorder, and benzodiazepine abuse can relax you, if only briefly. But when the benzodiazepine wears off, depression comes back full-force: “marijuana downers, alcohol and opaites seem to temporarily blunt the effects of mood swings, only to cause ill effects later.”
Stimulants can trigger manic symptoms, which always descends into depression soon after. The cyclical effects of mania and depression alike feed off the effects of alcohol and drugs, especially downers (and alcohol, especially as a depressant) and stimulants.
Since someone with bipolar disorder is strongly affected by drugs or alcohol, it is often a good idea to avoid them altogether. While substances might briefly relieve symptoms, those symptoms can come back full-force when the drugs or alcohol wear off, and continue to worsen, thus preventing recovery — and often causing important medications to not work.
