There is plenty of sound data regarding the high incidence of co-occurring disorders (mental and substance use disorders) among alcoholics. The good news is that health providers and treatment modalities are beginning to recognize this and the increased attention to address both conditions in an integrated manner is beginning to pay off in better supports and outcomes for those of us with co-occurring disorders. There are even some 12-step based groups, like Dual Recovery Anonymous (DRA), that exist in some states/communities now. We have come a long way from back in the day when some people in AA would tell folks on psychotropic medications to stop taking the meds, sometimes with disasterous consequences. My observation is that AA in general-nationwide-does a great job today of staying out of the medical issues of people, reeling in members who insist in giving advice or playing doctor, and supporting people to seek appropriate help for whatever health issues they have.
I have PMDD - which feels like I have bipolar for a week every month - and I also haD PTSD. Both things and alcoholism from what I've read are things we are genetically predisposed to, and also need the right mix of environmental factors. If I was born on the moon, I may not have become an alcoholic or ever had PTSD - but someone like me, born with the right genes only needs to see a few unexpected traumatic things for an upcoming R rated movie during a commercial break while I'm watching the Andy Griffith show on TBS - and bam, I'm all set up for any major tragic life event to tip me over into PTSD land. Same tragic thing can happen to me and you, but I get to have panic attacks and night terrors until I ask for help, and you don't cuz you don't have the genes.
I think it's pretty much the same thing with alcoholism. If I were born on the moon, and lived there all alone with no alcohol available, I would just be a happy little cosmic spitfire. But since I was born on Earth, and alcohol was easily available by the time I was 2 from my Dad's kegerator, and he got a jolly good laugh when I took a sip of that beer and ran a few hundred times around the pool table, it was possible from that point on for me to be an active alcoholic, and since I had the right genes... I took another sip, and another, and another... until I had enough, and I knew one more would kill me.
Thanks for the topic and welcome home whatever you are : )
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
Yes, it is a common comorbid disorder (alcoholism and bipolar). With that said, Bipolar disorder is probably the most overdiagnosed and most incorrectly diagnosed disorder amongst alcoholics. Our moods shift pretty wildly during our first year sober and that is due to poor emotional maturity, brain fog clearing up, wreckage of the past. So...it would appear many alcoholics are bipolar when they are not. They may also receive that diagnosis because it's a serious Axis 1 diagnosis for which all sorts of treatments can be billed to insurance.
BUT...as I started off saying, it is legit too and there's a definate higher comorbid rate as Leeu discusses. For some of us, we may have been prone to bipolar disorder and drinking in a hugely self destructive way trips off the mood disorder that was lying dormant. For others, the disorder may have been present first and we drink to self medicate. During manic phases, alcohol abuse/binges are super common and it's even written in the criteria as a common symptom of a manic phase. During depression, drinking to self medicate might also occur. Essentially, a person with bipolar disorder may have such intense problems with their moods that they drink to try and just not feel anything.
It's difficult at first to separate a newly sober person from a person with bipolar disorder and/or both. A detailed history is needed. Certain halmark symptoms of mania also are above and beyond what occurs within the mood swings of drinking and early sobriety. Progressing into manic psychosis (thinking you are God or have some special powers) is definitely more than an average level of mood swing for early sobriety and that could be indicative of mania. Reckless spending and engaging in dangerous activities is another feature. Of course, most of us have problems with sleep upon getting sober, but only a person in a manic phase will use that time to "be productive" and nurture grandiose ideas and plans.
Bipolar disorder (like alcoholism) is highly genetic and there's usually one other or multiple family members with the disorder.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
I was on Lithium Carbonate in the 1970's for a while but it really didn't do anything as I'm an alcoholic and not manic-depressive (hard to tell the difference).
The Recovery Home I attended for 90 days in 1989 was a spiritually based program and no meds were allowed. I had to start working on me for a change.
All the pills I had taken over the years just covered up the symptoms and prevented me from addressing the causes. I love in HOW IT WORKS where it says : "There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest." I needed no depression or anxiety meds after rehab.
My AA friend Mitch celebrated 47 yrs at the end of March and he explained mania to me years ago when he said one day at the meeting.. Mitch said "I fell off a 22' ladder yesterday" I said "OMG !! Did you hurt yourself ??!!" "Nope" said Mitch "I was only on the first rung"
From my very first drink at the age of nine...I knew what alcohol did for me and would do in the future if I continued. I am a former theapist who worked with the chemically affected on many levels and settings. Quite simply alcohol is a mind and mood altering chemical. It changes things...almost everything it comes into contact with in and our of my body. When I worked in rehab setting Alcoholics and Addicts were not as in range of medical insurance benefits as those diagnosed with mental and emotional disabilities. Since many emotional disabilities as a consequence of alcohol and drug abuse and addiction mimic other disorders we were put intouch with medical insurance funding by incorporating the "dual diagnosis" scheme. Decades ago mental health was saying that "Alcoholics drank the way they did because they had problems" while chemical addiction rehabilitation was saying just the opposite "The alcoholic had problems because they drank the way did". So often when we totally arrested the chemical abuse, misuse and addiction the other mental challenges disappeared.
