bayliss

Hello Fellow SR People!

I have been meaning to post this thread up in a while but didn't get around to it.
I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on alcohol abuse and mental disorders - such as OCD/Anxiety/Depression/Etc.

I always kept thinking of this phrase before decided to stop drinking: "Am I drinking because I am depressed, or am I depressed because I am drinking?".

I feel like my OCD - compulsions and ruminating thoughts as well as anxiety has just gone through the roof. Especially since trying to start this sobriety thing...I know that I am going to have to deal with the anxiety through sobriety until it gets better but sometimes it's hard and I end up grabbing that drink, to which makes the anxiety way worse the next day paired with a hangover.

I am curious if anyone else goes through this or understands what I mean?

Someone on here mentioned "waiting for the fog to clear" and I am not sure what that means or if it has anything to do with mental disorders and substance abuse.
Thanks for all your input.

Much Love,

-Bayliss+

MycoolFitz

Well, I read this and don't know for sure if its true, or if I just am surrounded by twisted family and friends.

"We're all mentally ill.
We're all delusional.
We're all junkies.
It's just a matter of degree."

Ven. Robina Courtin

LoftyIdeals

Bayliss...I am also ADD and depressive. I have found my cycles go hand in hand with drinking. Can't answer the chicken/egg question, as I think it's both. But I know that if I quit drinking/using, at least I'll have the cognitive awareness of depression before it's too late, and haven't looked for the solution at the bottom of a bottle. Yours is a good question, and one I plan on asking my counselor Friday at my inaugural visit. On day 4 now, and starting to see through the haze a little. If you haven't already, give it a try!

There's also a thread on alcohol and mental illness on this site. You have to scroll down a little to find it.

aussieblue

I have GAD and have had depression for years but I have also drank since I was a teenager so I can't say weather alcahol is what caused the depression or not what I will say is that since reading the posts here on SR I have noticed the % of people with alcahol/drug problems who have depression or other mental problems seems very high.

nandm

I have observed and heard of many people who go through an depression when they stop alcohol/drugs. But that depression clears as they continue with sobriety. On the other hand there are people like myself where the mental health issues came to light as my sobriety continued and I finally sought treatment at 1 year of sobriety and have continued to do so over the past 10 years. I do believe that treatment for mental health issues goes much better when alcohol/drugs are not involved as the medication usually is not as effective when they are present. Also I think that therapy itself is not as effective because it is hard to be honest with oneself let alone someone else when we are actively using. But this is mainly my opinion and I am sure there will be many more.

Hope444

Hello,
I am getting my Bachelor's in Psychology right now. I am learning a lot about this, Bayliss.
You can absolutely be diagnosed with more than one "mental disorder." Alcoholism/Addiction is categorized as a mental disorder in the Psychology world (not a disease unfortunately). There are different umbrella categories. Therefore you can have something such as Bipolar, Generalized Anxiety disorder, OCD along side Addiction. However, You usually are not diagnosed as having more than one anxiety disorder or depression disroder. For example, you have either have Generalized Anxiety Disorder or OCD (you can not have both, since they are both under the Anxiety umbrella category) Or you can have a Depression disorder (but just one, there are different levels)... enough said about that. I am by no means any expert. I am just saying there are such thing as double and triple diagnosis!!!

All of these disorders--to be diagnosed for such anxiety or depression disorders it is a qualification that the patient is not drug/alcohol induced. And if they are an addict/alcoholics, it is required they are not diagnosed for a period of time after getting sober (in some cases a lot of Doctors overlook the addiction and diagnosis anyway) but in MY OPINION, it takes a while to, yes, "have the fog cleared" and become normal. Drugs and alcohol do a lot more to our physical/mental state than we even know. 2 more things....

1. It is VERY common that most of us addicts/alcoholics are anxious anyway/and depressed. And most of us, in my opinion, do have generalized anxiety and what not... and minor medications are great. But I would wait to get a bigger diagnosis such as OCD/Bipolar until you are more sober.
2. My first month in sobriety the professional treatment center I was at, which is extremely qualified and well know, believed I was bipolar. But they would not give me medications, yet. I continued working with that psychiatrist 9 months after getting sober and I am not bipolar. Good thing they waited.

I hope this helps.....

onlythetruth

Approximately half of people with addictions have mental disorders of some kind, and approximately half of people with mental disorders suffer from addictions.

So it is very common, and often the conditions reinforce each other in such a way that it is really impossible to say which came first. Perhaps this is why the research shows that the most effective treatments for dually diagnosed people involve a coordinated approach where the idea isn't to treat one OR the other, but rather both at the same time.

Hope444

Oh! By the way.... I believe I have ALWAYS had depression. I also believe I drank because I was depressed, and then I got more depressed because I drank. To me, it is irrelevant which came first, and honestly it probably doesn't matter in my opinion. Getting treated for addiction and also getting treated for depression will benefit you, and as you continue to get sober it will get clearer and clearer for you.

Dee74

I tried to deal with my depression by drinking.

Of course, over the years my drinking became as big a problem as my depression - I really needed to tackle both when I got into recovery.

D

sm840817

so is depression and drinking related?

bayliss

I definitely agree that sometimes addiction/depression/etc go hand in hand...the alcohol can do some damage to the brain and the way that it functions.
I believe that I went through some compulsive OCD as I grew up...I would have intrusive thoughts here and there that I easily dismissed in the beginning until I began drinking more and more heavily - then it just became a lot worse. Especially when going through a hangover.
Hope444 - I haven't been officially diagnosed with OCD by a Doc but I do believe that I have been struggling with it before I began drinking heavily.
I was told I had depression but didn't feel it until now - after the drinking...I thought that I would get sad from time to time, but not to the point where I couldn't get out of bed.
Anxiety I do admit in having...random panic attacks and whatnot - more to that story that doesn't really matter...but I just find like these symptoms are magnified whilst drinking heavily or when you're feeling the after affects.

I am definitely tackling both - I was really about to fall off the wagon tonight but am grateful that my boyfriend is here to deter me from that.

I am still not sure what this fog is.....

Thanks everyone!
This is an interesting discussion!

bayliss

Ehm, see, this is the tricky question. There are some people that have depression or deal with it and don't drink or deal with substance abuse. But I do find that a lot of people that do suffer from mental disorders try and numb it in some way or another and I think that alcohol is the number 1 number for people...even though it's a depressant in the end and makes the depression worse!

Dee74

I believe there have been studies that suggest that sm840817.

I'm not really into statistics though - I think a lot of people, like me, liked the way drink seemed to 'make them happy' while not really appreciating that alcohol is actually a depressant - I was really adding fuel to the fire, not making it better.

D

Snicklefritz

I drank for a number of years before finally being diagnosed as bi-polar. I tried several different medications over a few years and finally found one which solved the problem. The result was no more outbursts or feelings of mania. Once those feelings were eliminated I had no desire to drink.

blackstrat6

Careful guys. We can't give medical advice here.