Don’t be a Victim of Yourself: Lies About How Addiction Affects Mental Health Disorders
Living with depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder can seem like a never-ending cycle of emotional turmoil that diminishes a person’s quality of life over time. For many, finding any source of relief can feel like a godsend.
Not surprisingly, many who struggle with mental health problems turn to substance abuse as a means to gain relief from distressing emotional symptoms. The truth of the matter is the fleeting feelings of calm and joy that drugs (and alcohol) bring come with a high cost, leaving a person worse off than before.
The Interplay Between Drugs and Mental Health Disorders
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 50 percent of people struggling with mental health disorders also have drug addiction problems. As both conditions thrive within a chemically imbalanced brain environment, the presence of one condition leaves a person that much more susceptible to developing the other.
Ultimately, the effects remain the same regardless of which condition develops first, since the chemical imbalances caused by either disorder create prime conditions for the other to develop.
If you’re considering treatment and you’re not sure if your insurance will cover your treatment costs, call our helpline at 888-647-0051 (Who Answers?) for more information.
The Mental “Disorder” that Characterizes Both Conditions
Substance abuse can worsen the symptoms of a mental illness.
While addiction typically starts out as a physical dependence, the driving force behind addiction takes root within the mind in terms of a person’s thinking, motivations and behaviors. These same effects appear within psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety, where the mind has developed a framework or system of beliefs that feeds into the symptoms of the disorder.
In effect, addiction and mental illness operate as two distinct brain diseases that feed off one another.
Drug Withdrawal Cycles
Perhaps the most striking connection between addiction and mental illness appears within the withdrawal episodes that play such an active role in driving continued drug use. Most all types of withdrawal syndromes, whether they be opiate-, stimulant- or hallucinogen-based, include symptoms of psychological distress, such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Impaired judgment and decision-making
With continued drug use, these symptoms grow more severe in intensity and frequency and inevitably aggravate symptoms of mental illness.
Signs Your Drug Addiction May be Causing Your Depression
Drug addiction and depression often feed off one another and occur together, as they take place in similar areas of the brain.
A Vicious Cycle, A Downward Spiral
According to the Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, the ongoing need to gain relief from distressing emotional symptoms makes a person easy prey for the “highs” that addictive drugs bring. Likewise, someone struggling with addiction on top of mental illness contends with ongoing cravings for the drug.
While it may be easy to ignore or overlook the cycles of withdrawal, emotional turmoil and drug use that come with addiction and mental illness, the effects had on a person’s emotional and psychological well-being become debilitating over time.
Considerations
Ultimately, the lies we tell ourselves about how addiction affects mental illness are a product of the addiction-mental illness mindset. Considering how addiction and mental illness develop out of growing chemical imbalances in the brain, the longer a person delays getting needed treatment help the harder it is to recover from this condition.
If you or someone you know struggles with the effects of addiction and mental illness and need help finding treatment that meets your needs, please don’t hesitate to call our toll-free helpline at 888-647-0051 (Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addiction specialists.
