The correlation between Substance Abuse and Mental Illness.

The correlation between Substance Abuse and Mental Illness. | Ecency

I witnessed an unpleasant experience of a young girl who had an overdose of hard drugs and she was behaving abnormally, we didn't even know her but my neighbor kept saying we shouldn't let her go because she had witnessed a case of someone who eventually ran mad with the same pattern, I was scared for the young girl and at the same time couldn't stop asking myself questions about why a pretty young looking lady like this would result to a hard drug, I couldn't stop thinking about it so I had to download different articles and read up on the correlation between substance disorder and mental illness, and I came up with interesting details, please read further to enjoy and gain knowledge.

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So many individuals who develop substance use disorders (SUD) are also diagnosed with mental disorders and in the same vein, so many people who are diagnosed with mental disorders have an affiliation with SUD. After so much research from experts, they have come out with a result that says, about half of the cases of people who experience mental disorders during their lifetime will also experience use disorder. Another research has been published to say that adolescents that are engaged in substance abuse also experience consistent cases of mental illness.

Some data collated from research has shown high rates of cor-morbid substance use disorder and anxiety disorders, they include; panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Depression, bipolar, and post-traumatic stress disorder are not far-fetched from those with substance use disorder.

Although anyone can pick up the habit of drug use at any age, it is more common amongst those in their adolescence, it is at that stage that the first sign of mental health appears and it can also be commonly seen among youth. During the phase of transition to young adulthood, those with co-morbid disorders require coordinated support to assist them with potentially navigating the stressful changes that are accompanied by education, work, and relationships.

The brain is going through a continuous development stage through adolescence, the circuit that controls excessive functions like decision-making and impulse control is often the very last to reach maturity, this enhances vulnerability to drug use and the development of a substance use disorder. Taking drugs at a young age is a strong factor that will contribute to later substance use disorder, it may later contribute to a severe case of mental illness as well.

There is a high comorbidity between substance use disorders and other mental cases, but this does not mean specifically that one has caused the other, even in a case where one appeared first before the other, but the fact that some mental cases can be traced back to when substance abuse started makes it difficult to determine if the substance use or mental health problem came first. Both substance use disorders and mental illnesses are caused by overlapping factors that are either genetic or epigenetic vulnerability issues with similar regions of the brain and environmental influences like early exposure to trauma or stress.

When a hard drug is taken regularly, a sense of addiction is activated in the brain's reward system, which uses the neurotransmitter dopamine, but after some time, the system becomes less sensitive to the drug it has been repeatedly exposed to, therefore ratches up the required dose needed to achieve the same previous effect. This process eventually shoots up the reward system, as the addict now begins to take drugs, not for pleasure, but to avoid the brain's pain and stress circuitry that are stimulated during the period when the drug is withheld. When rewarded excessively, of course through the intake of the more desired drug, the brain and body stress system gets activated.

Some of the cases of mental health problems and substance use disorders occurring together are based on; substance use that could make someone with an addiction experience one or more symptoms of a mental health condition, some mental health problems could result in the use of alcohol or drug and some people who already have a mental health problem, may not begin to misuse the substance as a form of self-medication, on the other hand as well, mental health and substance use disorders are similar in a few cases of underlying sources, this includes the change in brain composition, genetic vulnerabilities and early exposure to trauma.

More than one in four adults living with serious mental health problems also has a substance use problem. source

Although, this is not to rule out the fact that, genetics and environmental factors interact at molecular levels and lead to mental illness. Environmental factors include trauma, chronic stress, etc but while speaking on environmental factors contributing to mental illness cases, we cannot still rule out the place of exposure to drugs which could induce subtle changes in gene expression.

Higher levels of stress have been shown to reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex and increase responsivity in the striatum, which leads to decreased behavioral control and increased impulsivity. source

Emotional or physically traumatized individuals stand a high chance of being exposed to drug use, those who have PTSD may use substances to reduce anxiety and the refusal to deal with trauma and the consequences that come with it.

Conclusion.

This is a deep topic that I will continue writing on next time, psychiatrist should bear in mind that, when patients are brought in as psychiatric patients, they need to be screened for substance use disorder and vice-versa. There will also be a strong need for great observation during treatment, with changes associated with abstinence, it would be easy to differentiate if the problem is caused by substance intoxication or withdrawal.

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