Thread: Bipolar question

Originally Posted by viewsocial

Can you tell me why is it that I’m Bipolar..and the only thing that can keep me happy, when I’m using is drugs or alcohol.Then after i have came down on the drugs/Alcohol.I get depress More or worst.Can you help me please?

Viewsocial, thanks for asking. I'm sorry that you're having to deal with so much. There IS a real answer to your question and once you know that answer, your post-use depression will make more sense. First, allow me to explain a few things to those who are not familiar with bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a disease of brain chemistry as much as it is anything else. People who are bipolar experience mood swings and other symptoms when the chemicals in their brain that help regulate mood get out of balance with one another causing the person to swing between painful depressions and wild manic episodes that can start out happy and become frightening.

Some people with bipolar disorder get attracted to drugs because drugs affect their brain chemistry in a way that makes them temporarily feel better. When people use drugs in an attempt to make themselves feel better - as opposed to just wanting to get ‘high’ - it is called ‘self-medication’. That term, self-medication, is very familiar to most of us.

Alcohol is a drug that belongs to a class of drugs known as ‘depressants’. Depressant drugs like alcohol basically work their magic by putting your brain to sleep. The brain doesn’t go to sleep all at once, however (you would just pass out if this were the case). Rather, the parts of the brain that give you impulse control and anxieties tend to go to sleep first. People tend to feel happier when their brain is asleep and they are not worried about things – and this is why people like the feelings they get when they drink alcohol; they stop worrying and just do what they feel. The problem with alcohol and with all depressant drugs is that the good feelings you get from them don’t last. Alcohol actually can cause depression when you use it a lot. The more you drink – the more you are making yourself depressed!

Hope that helps you understand more.

~4tRACY

makes sense. thanks. So its not a good idea

Hey Viewsocial see my post about it under mental illness.

Again I have an older son whose bipolar, and many friends in recovery as well. First of all it's OK!!! There are millions of people in this world who are bipolar you are NOT alone!!! And many like you have found drugs alleviate the symptoms, so of course why wouldn't you do that?!!

BUT if you can get on the right medication with your doctor for your bipolar you'd find an AMAZING POSITIVE CHANGE!!! My son struggled for years, until it got soooo bad and he was sooo desperate! He thought he was going crazy, he had literally no friends left, and he was incredibly depressed as well it was really really sad and tragic to watch. And he was using literally EVERY drug off the streets and alcohol to try to feel better! He ended up in desperation seeing his doctor, I wrote a letter to the doctor and hand delivered it that day I had NO idea what was wrong but I knew there was something and as a mom I couldn't "fix" it which was literally killing me watching my beloved son suffer so!

His doctor ended up getting him on antidepressants as well as a drug called Risperdal (sp?). He's been on the riperdal for over a year, no major negative side effects and he's doing great with it!

An exfiance of mine struggled for years with bipolar also, and said he literally could NOT get sober from drugs or alcohol until he got that under control. He tried a few different bipolar meds with his doctor and finally got the right one that worked well for him.

There IS hope! Don't give up!!! Work with your primary or a psychiatrist and see what you can try to get prescribed for this. I know it feels like a big huge deal, but I promise once you get on the right medication for bipolar or any mental illness that is treatable you feel like a MILLION times better and can move on with your life. And my son and my exfiance both said they could have never gotten sober without getting stable with the bipolar first...both are sober today also!

You're not alone! There's hope! Prayers for you, dont give up!!!

tdb

You're so right, babydoll! I can't imagine the torment you went through, watching your son go through his issues. With your giving spirit, that must have been pure torture.

Putting on my Nurse's cap again...

What goes up must come down.

Drugs cause their effects by changing how the chemicals in your brain are functioning. If you use drugs to push your brain into a ‘good’ feeling state, your brain pushes back by making you feel lousy when the drug effect has worn off. The way it works with most drugs is that you get a tolerance to them, and you start needing more and more of the drug to get any of the good effect. Ultimately, if you become addicted, you start having to take the drug just to avoid feeling bad all the time.

Drugs and alcohol are a dead end.

They are a special danger to people like yourself who have a mental illness. I urge you to get help for both of your problems as soon as you can. People like yourself, who have both an addiction and a mental disorder too are said to be ‘dually diagnosed’, meaning that they have two diagnoses or problems at the same time.

You might ask around to see if there are any ‘dual diagnosis’ clinics in your city as a dual diagnosis clinic is the best type of treatment clinic for someone like yourself to get help in.

Good luck. And please stay here in the forum. We care about you. I'm sure everyone who read your posts is reaching out to you to give you a cyber-hug... I know BABYDOLL and I are!

Thanks again for the question.

NO QUESTION IS DUMB - OR INAPPROPRIATE, IF IT'S HONEST AND FROM THE HEART, AS IS, NO ANSWER THE SAME.


~4tRACY