Are You or Someone You Love Suffering from Bipolar Disorder and Alcoholism? Below are Some Key Points to Understand.

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Are you or someone you love suffering from bipolar disorder and alcoholism? Below are some key points important for you to understand.

Self Medication

One of the reasons people use drugs and alcohol is to self medicate. This is a common term people use to describe the coping skill of escape through drugs or alcohol. One could imagine all kinds of scenarios that might cause a healthy non mentally ill person to self medicate. The everyday stress of social relationships, work or family life may be a trigger for seeking relief through alcohol.

People with bipolar disorder are much more likely to suffer from alcoholism. In fact one study showed women are 7 xs more likely to suffer from alcoholism if they are bipolar (Allen, 2003).

A person who has bipolar disorder may constantly feel their life is out of control and too painful to cope with. Without proper help support and treatment their life can feel unmanageable. Alcohol gives them the false sense that they are in control and provides a temporary escape from painful intense emotions. The connection between bipolar disorder and alcoholism can easily be understood in this way. However this is a false sense of control, and mood stabilizers prescribed by a physician can do a much better and safer job of treating the effects of bipolar disorder

Genetic Component

There is a genetic component that contributes to the relationship between bipolar disorder and alcoholism that isn’t quite understood. We do know that there is a very high rate of alcoholism in the families of persons with bipolar disorder. Many of my clients who are bipolar have a strong history of alcoholism in their family. Of course there is a genetic component to both of these illnesses, so it seems that if you are bipolar you are likely to have someone in the family who was bipolar and if you are an alcoholic the same is true.

Complications with Diagnosis

The symptoms of bipolar disorder and alcoholism may look the same. Someone who is drunk may act manic while under the influence of alcohol. Depression is also commonly associated with alcohol withdrawal.

Most mental illness cannot be diagnosed unless the person has had a period of abstinence where they are not suffering from withdrawal and the symptoms of illness are present. People suffering from alcoholism also have dramatic mood swings that can mimic those a person with bipolar disorder suffers. Clearly these two illnesses interact in damaging ways and exacerbate one another.

The Course of the Illness and the Prognosis may be Worsened

Obviously if you have bipolar disorder and you are also suffering from alcoholism your prognosis for stability is not as good. The chemical changes alcoholism creates in the brain and body interact with the bipolar disorder in a way that makes it more difficult to treat. Also, the alcohol itself may alter the course of the illness. The course of an illness is how it evolves over time. If you have bipolar disorder and you are drinking, the cycles and severity of the episodes may be altered and permanently changed

Medications

Most studies have suggested that lithium is less effective in a client who has bipolar disorder and alcoholism. This could be because many of those clients present with a more rapid cycling -mixed manic bipolar and that is known to be less responsive to lithium. More often a doctor will choose Depakote which has actually been shown to decrease patients drinking University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2005, January 19). (Allen, 2003)in addition to leveling out the mood. The exception seems to be adolescents with BPD and alcoholism who, in one study, were shown to respond to lithium. (Susan C. Sonne, 2002)

Bibliography

Allen, C. (2003, May 5). Alcoholism and Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved May 4, 2008, from Psychology Today Online: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030505-000003.htmlSusan C. Sonne, P. a. (2002). Bipolar Disorder and Alcoholism. Retrieved May 4, 2008, from National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh26-2/103-108.htmUniversity Of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2005, January 19). Anticonvulsant Drug Cuts Drinking In Bipolar Alcoholics, Shows University Of Pittsburgh Research. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 4, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2005/01/050110123206.htm