Bipolar disorders and drug addiction

¶ … treatment of bi-polar disease is among the most difficult of all mental health issues because the disease is among the most severe of all psychological disorders (Long, 2005). Such treatment is complicated when patients who are diagnosed with bi-polar also have a dual diagnosis that includes drug addiction, because the effects of the two diseases both complicate and mimic each other with said patients, making it difficult for doctors to sort out which disorder to treat with what options (Michael's House, n.d.). However, due to the severity of the dual diagnosis and its effects on both individuals suffering from its and the potential effects it has on families and other environmental actors within the patients' circle of influence, it is critical to consider the approaches to co morbidity and to develop research that addresses the problems associated with each diagnosis and the complications associated with dual treatment.

This brief paper will consider the link between bi-polar disease and drug addiction and treatment approaches that seem to hold promise for dealing with these diseases, according to research studies identified in the literature. By considering briefly the factors at play in the individual diagnoses of both bi-polar and drug addiction, and then weighing the claims made by research studies that address co-morbidity, the paper will present an introductory study to understanding how bipolar and drug addiction can be treated.

The facts related to bi-polar disease show it to be a complicated disease. It is characterized by severe mood swings between manic episodes and depressive episodes, which can occur during the same day in some cases, and these episodes are recurring throughout life. If left untreated, bi-polar carries a risk of death by suicide of 15%. Unfortunately, as Long argues, the causes and associated chemical effects of bi-polar are not understood very well. Many in the medical community have come to believe that abnormal levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine are, if not causal, then certainly associative. Inheritance patterns show genetic links, with parents and children having same and similar disorders, and siblings have bi-polar and anxiety-related disorders frequently. Co morbidity, as Long points out, is the rule rather than the exception, with drug dependencies, eating disorders, and related diseases present in most patients. Treatment generally consists of the lifelong administration of mood stabilizing drugs, often accompanied by antipsychotic drug therapy, and psychotherapy and education.

Drug addiction has a complicated relation to bi-polar disorder. Many individuals who suffer from the effects of bi-polar turn to drugs on a casual basis because it initially seems to help them "even out" their mood swings and mood severity (Michael's House). Because the ultimate effects of drug use and bi-polar disease can mimic each other -- characterized by self-isolation, further depressive symptoms, failure to care for the body and mind in a holistic fashion, and the like -- this casual link can turn into a complicated relationship within the patient. The bi-polar mood swings can be deepened and furthered once the initial numbing effects of the drug usage wear off, requiring a more intense use of the drug to achieve the same effect. Thus, casual use turns into dependence, and the two diseases feed off each other in a cycle of deepening mental anguish and physical dependence (Michael's House). Studies conducted by Doughty et al. (2004) suggest that panic disorders, potentially exacerbated by the panic-inducing qualities of drug usage, are significantly associated with bi-polar disease, and Long finds that panic disorders are generationally related to bi-polar. Therefore, the well-known panic- and anxiety-related effects of drug usage have been shown to be related to bipolar disorder, so that both diseases correlate. Further, chemical responses that drive the bi-polar are complicated by the chemical effects of drug addiction, making treatment difficult to sort out. The associated risk of suicide, already high with sufferers of bi-polar disorder, is heightened. Care and treatment, both physical and mental, must be approached in an integrated fashion.