Bipolar Disorder and Manic Depressive Illness

Another common effect of bipolar disorder is drug and alcohol use. Most often this is to dull the extreme moods experienced during both manic and depressive phases. Teenagers are particularly likely to turn to either or both substances for comfort. They are juggling the confusing symptoms of bipolar disorder as well as peer pressure to drink and do drugs. However, these substances do not make you better; all they do is temporarily mask your symptoms. Over time, they make your symptoms worse. Drugs and alcohol can act on your brain's neurotransmitters in a way that overstimulates the nerve cell pathways that govern your emotions. This can upset your natural mood-balancing systems, causing you to experience even more severe mood swings.

“I started drinking and doing drugs because I did not know who I was anymore,” confesses Moss, seventeen. “My mood swings left me feeling as if I couldn't relate to anybody. I felt isolated. When I got high or drunk, it seemed like I could get along better with people. My friends thought I was out of control. So I drank more. It was a vicious cycle. Then one time, I OD'd and ended up being hospi talized. Afterward, I went into a detoxification program, which has helped me stay away from drugs and alcohol. Now I'm on medication for manic depression, but I also go to Alcoholics Anonymous to help me stay clean.”

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found that abuse of alcohol and cocaine is high among manic-depressives. This is not surprising if you consider that manic-depressives not only often have a family history of mood disorders, but are also likely to have a family history of alcoholism. In fact, according to the NIMH, 60 percent of people who are found to have bipolar disorder are also diagnosed with drug or alcohol abuse.

What complicates matters is that the symptoms of bipolar disorder and substance abuse are similar, particularly manic symptoms such as feelings of invincibility and irritability, the inability to make rational judgments, and extreme highs. Doctors often have a tough time diagnosing what the primary problem is: manic depression, alcoholism, or drug addiction. This can affect how doctors treat patients. They might work on curing the addiction before dealing with the mood swings, they might stabilize the mood swings before attacking the substance abuse, or they might treat both at the same time.