SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - View Single Post

J24 · 11-04-2008, 04:25 PM

Medication has changed my life. I want to say, emphatically: WATCH OUT FOR PEOPLE IN 12-STEP RECOVERY THAT SAY YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE MEDICATION! I was told one time that I would not "find God" on medication, so I went off, and nearly was driven to suicide. I love the Twelve Steps. I love recovery. I love God. I love the people in recovery. Even the ones that are misguided about medication. But I also suffer from a mental illness, and if I don't treat my mental illness, I am incapacitated as far as doing the work to maintain my recovery from alcoholism.

What many people don't understand is that Dual Diagnosis means that EACH diagnosis is a PRIMARY diagnosis. So, if you have alcoholism and bipolar disorder, like me, you must attack both problems equally. You must treat the bipolar disorder with medication, and perhaps therapy, and you must address the alcoholism with the Twelve Steps, or any other recovery program available. Alot of folks believe that if you treat the mental illness, the addiction/alcoholism will magically go away on its own. I think this is a very common misconception. Or, conversely, if the mentally ill individual stops drinking/using, his or her mental health will clear up on its own. This is also untrue, in my experience.

I wish they had a dual diagnosis meeting in my city. I struggle very much with issues related to my bipolar ups and downs, and feel very, very uncomfortable talking about that at meetings; yet, it's such a huge part of my life. I've had psychiatric hospitalizations IN SOBRIETY. I know others have as well. Anyways, that's enough preaching out of me!

11-04-2008, 04:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
J24 Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 11	Dual Diagnosis Medication has changed my life. I want to say, emphatically: WATCH OUT FOR PEOPLE IN 12-STEP RECOVERY THAT SAY YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE MEDICATION! I was told one time that I would not "find God" on medication, so I went off, and nearly was driven to suicide. I love the Twelve Steps. I love recovery. I love God. I love the people in recovery. Even the ones that are misguided about medication. But I also suffer from a mental illness, and if I don't treat my mental illness, I am incapacitated as far as doing the work to maintain my recovery from alcoholism. What many people don't understand is that Dual Diagnosis means that EACH diagnosis is a PRIMARY diagnosis. So, if you have alcoholism and bipolar disorder, like me, you must attack both problems equally. You must treat the bipolar disorder with medication, and perhaps therapy, and you must address the alcoholism with the Twelve Steps, or any other recovery program available. Alot of folks believe that if you treat the mental illness, the addiction/alcoholism will magically go away on its own. I think this is a very common misconception. Or, conversely, if the mentally ill individual stops drinking/using, his or her mental health will clear up on its own. This is also untrue, in my experience. I wish they had a dual diagnosis meeting in my city. I struggle very much with issues related to my bipolar ups and downs, and feel very, very uncomfortable talking about that at meetings; yet, it's such a huge part of my life. I've had psychiatric hospitalizations IN SOBRIETY. I know others have as well. Anyways, that's enough preaching out of me!