Drug abusers frequently have an undiagnosed mental illness

Research is increasingly showing that many substance abusers may have difficulty staying clean because of an underlying mental illness. Statistics show that about 21% of adults suffering from a mental illness had alcohol or drug problems whereas only 7.9% of those without a mental illness did. In order to treat substance abuse, patients need to also be treated for their mental illness. Bipolar disorder sufferers are especially prone to drug or alcohol abuse but those with major depressive disorders such as schizophrenia, panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder are also prone. Drug and alcohol use are often used by sufferers of mental illness to alleviate symptoms but ultimately their symptoms will become a problem regardless. Bipolar sufferers may use cocaine to maintain the pleasurable aspects of a manic phase or they may use alcohol or marijuana to alleviate undesirable symptoms. It is believed that some drug use may in fact cause some people to develop mental illnesses if they are already predisposed to this condition. Dual diagnosis often involves psychiatric treatment and medication.

Source: summary of medical news story as reported by ABC News

Related Disease Topics:

• Mental illness
• Psychiatric disorder
• Drug abuse
• Alcohol abuse
• Bipolar disorder
• Depressive disorder
• Depression
• Schizophrenia
• Panic disorder
• Posttraumatic stress disorder
• Mania

Related Symptom Topics:

• Drug abuse
• Alcohol abuse

Article Source Details

About: Drug abusers frequently have an undiagnosed mental illness

Date: 3 December 2004

Source: ABC News

Author: Christine Haran

URL: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthology/story?id=63955

Related Medical Topics

This summary article refers to the following medical categories:

• Medication
• Research
• Undiagnosed
• Cause of drug abuse
• Research and cause of alcohol abuse
• Research and mental illness
• Research and psychiatric disorder
• Research and drug abuse
• Research and alcohol abuse
• Research and bipolar disorder
• Research and depressive disorder
• Research and depression
• Research and schizophrenia
• Research and panic disorder
• Research and posttraumatic stress disorder
• Research and mania
• Medication and cause of alcohol abuse
• Medication and mental illness
• Medication and psychiatric disorder
• Medication and drug abuse
• Medication and alcohol abuse
• Medication and bipolar disorder
• Medication and depressive disorder
• Medication and depression
• Medication and schizophrenia
• Medication and panic disorder
• Medication and posttraumatic stress disorder
• Medication and mania
• Undiagnosed and cause of alcohol abuse
• Undiagnosed and mental illness
• Undiagnosed and psychiatric disorder
• Undiagnosed and drug abuse
• Undiagnosed and alcohol abuse
• Undiagnosed and bipolar disorder
• Undiagnosed and depressive disorder
• Undiagnosed and depression
• Undiagnosed and schizophrenia
• Undiagnosed and panic disorder
• Undiagnosed and posttraumatic stress disorder
• Undiagnosed and mania

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