Bipolar Disorder and Alcoholism

Healthcare providers should be Addiction as a Coping Mechanism and Healthy Alternatives aware of the potential for co-occurring disorders and be prepared to address both conditions simultaneously. Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health condition characterized by shifts in mood. There are different types of bipolar disorder, but all involve some combination of depressive and manic or hypomanic episodes. Individuals with BDII exhibited higher autocorrelation in AUDIT scores, indicating that greater alcohol use in this group was more likely to persist over time.

People with bipolar disorder have been statistically shown to be more likely to develop a substance use disorder (SUD) than the general population. This underscores the importance of consistent alcohol use habits for better mental health management. The findings suggest that clinicians should regularly discuss drinking patterns with bipolar patients. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), almost half of people with substance use disorder also have a mental health condition.

1. If a person has psychosis and consumes alcohol, this can lead to both short-term and long-term complications.
2. When followed up at six months post-discharge, various positive prognostic factors were identified, including early abstinence, baseline low anxiety, and engagement with an aftercare programme (Farren and McElroy, 2010).
3. In the short term, drinking alcohol can make you feel good, sociable, and even euphoric.
4. There are a number of pharmacotherapy trials, and psychotherapy trials that can aid program development.
5. Specifically, systems biology provides an exciting opportunity to better understand the BD-AUD comorbidity at different levels.

The Prechter Longitudinal Study is also still enrolling both people with bipolar disorder and people with no mental health conditions or close relatives who have mental health conditions, to act as comparisons. These findings also suggest that future neurocognitive studies of BD should take into account the potential confounding effects of comorbid AUDs, including past exposures to psychoactive substances (Savitz et al., 2005). In our opinion, two additional implications for research merit further discussion. Cosci and Fava (2011) have recently proposed an alternative strategy to examine dual diagnosis based on clinimetric methods, helped by staging and evaluation of subclinical symptoms.

How Long Does Alcohol-Induced Depression Last?

Although this demographic makeup mirrors that of the PLS-BD recruitment catchment area, it does not reflect the demographic characteristics of the US as a whole and therefore may limit the findings’ generalizability. The complete PLS-BD cohort currently consists of individuals enrolled for a median (IQR) of 9 (0-16) years. Exclusion criteria were neurological disease and inability to interview without being intoxicated on alcohol or substances.

Study volunteers’ data makes a big difference

It’s also worth noting that while this article has focused on alcohol, the relationship between bipolar disorder and other substances is equally important. For instance, can weed cause bipolar is another common question, as marijuana use is prevalent among individuals with bipolar disorder. Similarly, can drug use cause bipolar disorder is a topic of ongoing research and concern.

In sum, the present findings provide multiple avenues for future clinical intervention and research. Alcohol dependence is also highly genetic (Mayfield et al., 2008), and a wide range of studies confirm that association (Kendler et al., 2009). A plan for ongoing treatment or strategies to avoid drinking after a stay in residential treatment will help you avoid relapsing. It is hard work to go through treatment for both bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder, but if you put in the time and effort it really can be effective. Medications help manage symptoms, but it can take some time to find one that works well for you and minimizes side effects. This is one good reason to consider residential care for comorbid substance abuse and bipolar disorder.

Bipolar Affective Disorders and Alcohol Dependence: Comorbidity, Consequences, and Treatment

GDC has the same structure as IGT (e.g., there is a check-in at the beginning and a session topic), but the content differs in that GDC addresses primarily substance use. If the AUD commences before the BD, then one hypothesis for the comorbidity would be that the AUD activates a predisposition towards BD in that subgroup; although there is no genetic or familial evidence for this (Maier and Merikangas, 1996). The other hypothesis, namely that patients with BD use alcohol to self-medicate their mood symptoms, or drink a result of their tendency towards impulsive behaviours, may also apply (Swann et al., 2003). It is likely, however, that within the spectrum of comorbid AUD and BD, there lies a variety of orders and associations, and that no one hypothesis explains the full spectrum of presentations. Consistent with this is the fact that when comorbid groups are studied, some patients present with BD first, some with AUD first, and some patients present with both simultaneously (Strakowski et al., 2005a).

Bipolar disorder and alcoholism: Are they related?

This 3-month, follow-up study compared 21 BD patients with AUDs in the previous year and 34 BD patients without a history of SUDs. Dually diagnosed patients performed worse on measures of verbal memory, visual memory, and executive functioning on both assessments and showed a poorer neurocognitive recovery relative to those without SUDs. These findings underscore the special needs of BD-AUD patients in terms of intensive treatment and support aimed to achieve early recovery after relapses. To that end, detailed and serial neuropsychological evaluations during this critical period remain as a backbone. If you have bipolar disorder, partaking in substances may feel good at the moment, but they can end up causing negative health effects in the long run. You might want to consider going to the doctor so that they can screen your symptoms since bipolar and substance abuse symptoms can overlap at times.

The co-morbidity of AUD in BD can reach 45% (Kessler et al., 1997; Cardoso et al., 2008), and the odds ratio for AUD in bipolar I disorder is higher than for bipolar II disorder, ( 3.5 and 2.6 respectively) (Hasin et al., 2007). The co-morbidity of BD in AUD is also high (Kessler et al., 1997; Frye and Salloum, 2006). If you or someone you care about has bipolar disorder and is struggling with drinking, take steps to get help as soon as possible.