0to60

Seems the issue of which came first, addiction or mental illness, continually perplexes the families of addicts who have issues. I'm wondering if the answer can be had or if both issues just need to be addressed without the answers.

I've heard of Dual Recovery Anonymous; any opinions/experience on that program?

Thank you for sharing.

Astro

I don't have any experience with DRA, but do believe that any recovery program can be of benefit if we're truly working it.

I've contemplated the "which came first" during my recovery and looking back I honestly can't tell you what I was hoping to get out of the answer. Yes, I have to address anything and everything that is creating wreckage in my life. For me, it was critical to stop drinking and stay stopped, and I continue to work a program of recovery in AA while working on the issues of anxiety and depression.

Archelon

I think sometimes one came first, sometimes the other.

Many people exhibit signs of mental illness before addiction.

I am an alcoholic, but don't have mental illness.

My sister has mental illness but not addiction.

I meet people here than have both.

If one has both, then I think dual diagnosis is the best route because they face challenges particular to them and benefit from other resources in recovery.

i don't think alcoholism is a mental illness

Rico1983

I've likely been suffering from undiagnosed Bi-Polar II disorder my entire teenage & adult life. I recently FINALLY started getting treatment for this, and not only do I feel emotionally stable, but my cravings for alcohol have subsided and I feel for the first time that I can control & confront my own compulsion, so yes I absolutely believe that solving mental health issues can be the chicken or egg

Of course, alcohol can cause depression so quitting can definitely help those down cycles too. Not sure about other substances...

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JD4010

Diagnosed with both major depression and anxiety here. I've been feeling the effects for at least 3 decades.

I used booze to self-medicate. As time went on, I needed more and more "medication" to do the trick. Even after I started on SSRIs for the complete lack of serotonin in my system.

But I'm completely done with booze now.

Gilmer

My mental illness started when I was a pre-teen. When I sank into a major depression in college, I started heavily self-medicating (I wasn't diagnosed as bipolar II till I was 38). After I was diagnosed and life became more level, I developed severe boredom, and that's when my real addiction started.

Elseware

You could be writing about me, Gilmer!

Sbforever

Lack of serotonin , did you get a test for this ?

Sbforever

I just liked the effects of alcohol as it gave me the confidence of a 25 year old at 13.

Drinking was like cheating or a better way of competing as a teen, why should I bother with the normal awkwardness of the early teen years when a few drinks gave me such an edge over my peers in many situations like parties or dating.

My use of alcohol and drugs later on "social steroids" of course backfired later in life because I never learned to do it natural. I gave myself more social anxiety then depression , anxiety attacks, bipolar moods with all that drinking and later taking psychiatric drugs like Adderal , Xanax and the "non addictive" but you still get sick when you quit psychiatric pills.

I thought everything in life was better altered and high. Never even saw the line crossing from want to need with this stuff.

Sbforever

I almost have to be thankful for that abusive inpatient psych and the nasty threats of injection to try and coerce me onto zombie meds in the end as it lead to my determination to get better and lead me to the truth about psychiatry. Truth is the symptoms are real but they have never proved a medical basis or anything to back up there claim or implication that any of there diagnosis are permanent .

ComplexLifeForm

"Seems the issue of which came first, addiction or mental illness"

Well I think both came at the same time ;-) Quantum Mechanics says an electron (atoms) can exists at more than one place simultaneously.

Moreover with the advancement in technology we are gaining more and more understanding in the field of neuroscience and brain functionality, we are uncovering many mysteries of our brain functionality.

Epigenetic(study of genes) seems to say that we all have gene that may lead to addiction !

ComplexLifeForm

Has anyone tried to get rid of addiction / depression through alternative medical practices?

There seems to be a class of naturally occurring chemicals called entheogens extracted from plants and herbs etc. The chemical structure of these entheogens are almost identical to the natural chemicals produced by our bodies.

I do understand that many people may want to reject the comment as soon as they would come across "alternative" , But believe me these things are neither hoax nor they act as placebo.

Some of the these Entheogen are said to have the following properties

******** - Is said to be very effective for treating Alcohol and Opiate addiction

DMT and "Saliva Divinorum" are said to be used for spiritual cleanliness and thus help to remove feelings of guilt and shame or some wrong doing in the past.

LSD (synthetic) is useful in treating alcohol addiction, mental illness and disorders. It is also said to remove the fear of the death.

The governments all over the world, would reject these alternative treatments as bogus and harmful etc. In reality these things are quite effective in treating addictions of many type and are much cheaper than what the government wants people to use and would go to any extent to prevent their conflicts of interest.

Just take the example - For treating heroin addiction, the doctors prescribes "Methdone", which has been establish beyond doubt that it is in-fact more addictive than the substances people are treated for !

Please search the net for more information on these entheogen.

Thanks

Gargery

Although I don't consider myself mentally ill, in my case, pathology and diagnosis came long before my alcoholism became apparent. The former occurred in my teens and twenties, but I didn't lose control of my boozing until my early thirties.

Sbforever

The chicken , the egg or child psychiatry and drugs ?


Psychiatry turned me into a drug addict and I noticed that the majority of young people coming into treatment were given psychiatric drugs as children during the real heyday of label and drug a decade ago.


If it was mental illness causing the addiction in young people coming in for treatment shouldn't it be the ones who 'fell through the cracks' and made it through childhood unmedicated ?

Just ask almost any group of young people at an AA/NA if they were given psych meds as kids. The majority will answer yes.

Pallas

I think it is different for everybody. For me, the mental illness came first. I started suffering from clinical depression around the age of 12, and my addiction came way later. I was about 22 when I started taking opiates and am still battling the addiction and the depression to this day. Some people (like myself) start using to help cope with their mental illnesses, and others suffer from mental illness because of their inability to cope mentally with their addiction. It's hard to make a generalization about which comes first because every person's experience is different