Dual Diagnosis and the Bipolar Patient

Many bipolar people have a dual diagnosis.  This means that they have either another mental illness or substance abuse problem in addition to the bipolar disorder. According to studies done 57 to 60 percent of people with bipolar disorder do have a substance abuse problem.  Many have secondary problem caused by their bipolar disorder or by other factors.  Treating dual diagnosis is more complicated than treating either of the disorders alone.  Certain medications commonly used to treat one condition may cause adverse affects in persons who also have the other condition or dual diagnosis and can interact in a negative way with meds prescribed for that other condition.  Sometimes you will need to try a few different drug combinations to find the most effective therapy for you. Dual diagnosis programs are used for people who have a mental disorder and an addiction.  This approach helps people recover with both mental health and f\treats the substance abuse at the same time and in one place.

The most common dual diagnosis among bipolar patients are panic and anxiety disorders, obsessive /compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and impulse-control disorders such as kleptomania and compulsive shopping. One of the most consistent thing about bipolar disorder is that is inconsistent.  It may look like other things/ the anxiety may be agitation from bipolar disorder if it is a mood stabilizer will show a reduction in the anxiety.  OCD may be possessiveness which can appear with agitated mania.  Treatment of the mania reduces the OCD.  True OCD is a fear of something that something bad will happen if they do not perform certain rituals like checking a lock on a door 5 times.

 Many bipolar people have a substance abuse problem or a higher chance of developing a problem with substance abuse.  Drug and alcohol experts believe that the bipolar symptoms caused the tendency to self medicate for the bipolar symptoms.  It is common for bipolar people to use alcohol and drugs.  The treatment is the same rehab to get rid of the addiction issues when they are having bipolar symptoms the have an addict mentality and rehab will help them deal with it.