is the mental illness what brings on the addiction, or?

Question

does the addiction cause mental health problems?

Answer 1

It could go either way.

Someone may have mental illness and self medicate with alcohol or illegal drugs and develop a dependency on the drugs.

Or someone may have a mental illness caused by the use of drugs.

Sometimes it's hard to tell which one is the main problem.

I work for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, we have three divisions CPS (Comprehensive Psychiatric Services), ADA (Alcohol and Drug Addiction), and MRDD (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities). Some patients are treated by one, two or all three divisions.

Answer 2

In some cases it is a little bit like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg... There's no telling for sure, other than an addicted person is mentally ill and sometimes vice versa. From what I've learned, a mentally ill person need not be addicted, but the mind of an addict has the mechanics of a mentally ill person, thus a mentally ill person is likely more prone to addiction.
Yeah, they go hand in hand, but mental illness in and of itself does not guarantee addiction, while addiction does guarantee mental illness.

That's the best I can do, hope it helps.

Answer 3

Mental Illness could be the result of addictions but not the other way around. Addictions are part of the " mental illness equation ". Not everyone with mental illness has addictions but everyone with addictions has mental illness to a certain degree, from the least harmful ( running a vaccum cleaner 50 times a day-obsessive compulsive ) to being a spending machine ( shop till you drop ) actions.

Answer 4

Addiction of drugs can have an affect on mental health and disorders. Some mental health can be attributed to this while other problems may show up later in life without the use of recreational drugs or alcohol.

Answer 5

More often than not the mental illness leads to the addiction due to the person trying to "self medicate" in order to feel better.

Answer 6

This is a pretty complicated question, actually--it's hard to determine the "direction of causality" here. There's evidence that people with various addictions (and other behavioral and emotional problems) exhibit deficits in executive functioning (neurological problems). While that likely contributes to the problem (addiction), I don't think anyone can actually say with certainty that it causes the problem.

And I'd certainly be careful with that "self-medicating" theory; it's just that, a theory. I'm sure many people "suffer" from their addictions, and attempt to feel better. But with others, it's more a characteristic of impulsive, uninhibited behavior.

Answer 7

not always but it is very common for people with mental health issues to do things such as drugs alcohol etc etc to hide from there own mind and mental health problems. take care good luck In some cases drug abuse can lead to long term damage to the brain. Such as my friend took LSD years ago and know has hallucinations a lot of the time.

Answer 8

My sister had an affinity for alcoholism I think. That may be caused by a mental imbalance she may have. She grew up in the same house with the same parents, but turned out a lot different. When she got her first real taste of alcohol she changed immediately.

She has a bad addiction for loser boyfriends and husbands: thieves, murderers, psychotics. I really never understood that. One of her previous husbands got out of prison recently.

To answer your question as far as my sister is concerned, I think the mental problem or affinity was already there. It just took alcohol and idiot husbands and boyfriends to bring it out.

Answer 9

From what I've learned it seems that the 2 often go hand-in-hand. I know my mental health problems definitely helped the alcoholism keep going because when I was drunk I didn't care about the other problems.
You might try to find some meetings for people with dual diagnosis. Try this website: www.draonline.org.
Good luck!

Answer 10

According to some sources, 'addiction' is an acquired thing. It begins with ingesting a substance which triggers an allergy-like response, along with an insatiable craving for more. -Ever eat good hot Chili, and find it hard to stop?

Some dangerous 'recreational' drugs have a similar effect on certain individuals. Alongside this dangerous reaction to a given substance, there seems to be an obsession to 'overcome' this thing and enjoy oneself, as others do- creating a deadly cycle.