A mental health issue – such as depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety – is hard enough on your wellness, but when this coincides with a substance abuse problem, your wellbeing really is at risk. The same can be said if this co-occurring disorder or dual diagnosis starts with addiction, and incurs a mental health problem, but the good news is that there are treatments that can help.
With a dual diagnosis, your mental health issue and substance abuse problem have their own unique symptoms that interfere with your ability to handle life’s difficulties, interact with others and basically function. On top of this, the co-occurring disorders intermingle and affect each other, which further compounds the problem. When one issue increases, the other one usually increases also, and if one problem goes untreated, this will ultimately make the other problem worse too. According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, roughly half of people with severe mental disorders are affected by substance abuse, while 37% of alcohol abusers and 53% of drug abusers also have at least one serious mental illness. Of all people diagnosed as mentally ill, 29% abuse either alcohol or drugs.
While it’s common for people with mental health problems to experience addiction, but one issue does not directly cause the other. If you have depression or anxiety, you might turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of self-medication. However, the unfortunate side of this is that substance abuse causes side effects and eventually stops helping your symptoms and actually makes them worse. On the other hand, alcohol and drug abuse can increase your underlying risk for mental disorders, a complex interplay of genetics, the environment, and other outside factors. This can make it difficult to recognise or diagnose a co-occurring disorder.
Determining what might be a mental disorder and what might be a drug or alcohol problem can take time to tease out, especially because denial often clouds and complicates the issue. Denial is a common occurrence in substance abuse, as it’s difficult to admit to yourself – and those around you – how much alcohol or drugs affect your life and how dependent on them you have become. As the symptoms of depression or anxiety can be frightening, denial is also common in mental health problems, and you may choose to ignore them and hope they go away. Those who suffer from mental health issues often fear stigma, discrimination, or being viewed as week.
The important thing to take away from this is that substance abuse problems and mental health issues don’t get better when they’re ignored; they get much worse. You need to admit you have a problem before you can move on with your life and live it to the fullest. Start by taking a look at your family history – has someone related to you grappled with either a mental disorder such as depression or alcohol abuse or drug addiction? Genes and family history do play a role in your risk for developing these problems, so if a family member has suffered a mental health or substance abuse problem, it may help to open your mind to the possibility that you may likewise be affected.
Take a look at your own life: Are you highly sensitive to the effects of alcohol or drugs, and have you noticed a relationship between your substance use and your mental health? Getting depressed when you drink is an example of this. Moreover, while it’s normal to experience a small amount of depression or anxiety after you’ve stopped drinking or doing drugs, if the symptoms are still there once you’ve sobered up, you may be dealing with a mental health problem.
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