Substance Abuse, Mental Illness, or Both?

It seems like I have been writing about substance abuse and mental health all semester, not only in this class but it has been a focus on major assignments in a policy class as well.  I have found so much research regarding substance abuse…the rates of substance abuse within prisons, within the juvenile justice system, and co-morbidity of substance abuse and mental health disorders.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, has a ton of information regarding adolescents with substance abuse disorders and mental health disorders, even stating that more than half of adolescents with a substance abuse diagnoses also have a mental health disorder.  This particular website has some great pointers for parents about talking and dealing with teens who abuse substances.

I think that the prevalence of mental health within substance abuse is important to study.  Many times people self-medicate with drugs, and teenagers are no exception.  It is quite possible that it is even more prevalent because teens may have even less access to treatment, or they may not want to talk about it with their parents.  While it may not always be the case, I think it is important to sometimes look past the drug use to see if there is more to it than what appears on the surface.

I have had many friends who have slipped into drug abuse, some fatally.  Each of them had a wealth of other issues; depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder.  Yet many times the first and only issue looked at while attempting to receive (sometimes forced) treatment was the substance abuse.  Granted, substance abuse is obviously an important aspect in someone’s life once it takes hold, but many times it is not the main issue, and this needs to be examined. 

Years and years ago, I used to say that I did not know anyone who abused drugs who did not have past problems they were trying to ineffectively cope with, or who did not have an ignored mental health issue they were equally (and ineffectively) trying to cope with.  While that may have held true with the people that I knew, I now know that is not true for everyone.  Still, in order to effectively treat substance abuse, one must get to the root of the problem, or the cycle will continue on.

What are your opinions on mental health and substance abuse?  Do you believe treatment can be effective if the main issue is not addressed?  Have you had or heard of any experiences where substance abuse was the sole reason for treatment, regardless of treatment truly needed?  Let me know what you think!