Dr. Glen Hanson

Pat Fleming

Mental illness and drug addiction often occur together. This condition of dual diagnosis presents a challenge to physicians. The patient has two brain diseases that influence one another, and which both need treatment. But why do mental illness and substance abuse so often occur together?

In order to effectively deal with dual diagnosis, society must treat the problems of mental illness and addiction together.

Salt Lake County Substance Abuse Services

Substance abuse treatment centers recognize the need to treat patients for both addiction and mental illness.

A high percentage of people with mental disorders are also addicted to drugs of abuse.

Some say that certain drugs may indeed cause mental illness in individuals with a vulnerable genetic profile. Others say that drugs don't necessarily cause mental illness, but can worsen the symptoms.

Some people may begin using drugs of abuse as a form of self-medication. Drugs of abuse may temporarily relieve some of the symptoms associated with mental illness, such as stress, anxiety, social inhibitions or depression.

Dr. Glen Hanson

Drug use can fan the flames of mental illness.

Which came first, mental illness or drug addiction? Understanding the underlying causes of dual diagnosis may help physicians treat their patients.

A teen who will develop a mental illness begins to use drugs. As a result, symptoms of mental illness surface sooner than they would have, and worsen dramatically with prolonged drug use.

70% of schizophrenics smoke. Smoking a cigarette may help them experience calmness or a sense of well-being. It may help them think more clearly, more easily carry on a conversation, or diminish uncomfortable side effects of medications.

Stimulants such as cocaine can cause anxiety, panic attacks, mania and sleep disorders.

Depression can result from an underactive reward pathway that receives little pleasure from natural rewards. People with depression may turn to drugs to stimulate their reward pathways to more 'normal' levels.

Methamphetamine addicts often report 'hearing voices' and other types of hallucinations characteristic of certain mental disorders.

Prolonged drug use can lead to a downward spiral of worsening mental illness and drug addiction, leaving many worse off than they started.

A person vulnerable to one type of brain disease may also be vulnerable to another. Addiction and mental illness are both brain diseases. They involve the same pathways, molecules, and chemicals in the brain.

Increased dopamine activity is characteristic of both schizophrenia and many stimulants such as cocaine.

A serotonin transporter is associated with both mood disorders and alcoholism.

Both cocaine use and schizophrenia result in a dysfunctional reward pathway due to increased dopamine activity.

What if your genetic make-up could influence how your body reacts to drug abuse, causing mental illness in some but not in others? A recent study reported that individuals with a particular variant of the COMT (catechol-o-methyltransferase) gene may be more likely to develop schizophrenia if they smoke marijuana regularly. As many as 1 in 4 people may have this variant.

Genetics may play a role in determining how an individual will react to drug abuse, causing mental illness in some but not in others.

Pat Fleming

Salt Lake County Substance Abuse Services

Is there a way to convince young people who suffer from mental illness to stay away from drugs?