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There are some things you should know about mental health and addiction. Mental health and an addiction to drugs or alcohol can have a relationship when one aggravates the other and makes each condition worse for the individual. When someone suffers from mental health issues like depression or anxiety they must deal with symptoms that are unpleasant every day of their life. Often, in an attempt to stifle the negative feelings the person will use drugs or alcohol. The problem with this is that the substance abuse makes the mental condition worse than ever before. In addition, the addiction to the substance will develop very quickly because people with a mental illness have a high propensity for becoming addicted. Plus, it is hard enough to deal with an addiction but it is harder to deal with when you are also dealing with a mental illness. Unfortunately, this is a common problem and studies show that up to half of the people who suffer from a mental illness are also people who suffer from an addiction. Treating these people can be complex because it is impossible to achieve good mental health when you are dealing with an addiction. Also it can be difficult to identify these dual problems because many of the symptoms of addiction and mental illness are the same. In addition, there are some other things you should know about mental health and addiction. One the other hand, sometimes a mental health issue and an addiction can have unique symptoms that make it difficult for the individual to function. The dual problems will affect each other and interact. The substance abuse problem will only get worse if the mental health problem goes untreated. Plus, the as the substance abuse increases , the mental health problem will increase as well. Even though addiction is common in people who suffer from mental health problems one problem does not cause the other problem. In fact, the sufferer will often self-medicate with alcohol or drugs to deal with the symptoms of depression or anxiety. The problem is that the substance abuse will cause side effects that on a long term basis will make the symptoms of the mental illness worse than before. Another problem is that substance abuse can increase any underlying risk to develop a mental disorder. The causes of a mental disorder is a combination of the environment, genetics and other factors. A substance abuse problem can push you over the edge and into a mental illness if you are already at risk. Moreover, substance abuse can make the symptoms of a mental illness worse and trigger new symptoms. Plus is the individual is taking medication to deal with the mental illness such as antidepressants, mood stabilizers or anti-anxiety pills, the alcohol or drug abuse can interact with the medications and make them less effective. The relationship between mental health and addiction is complex and risky. Furthermore, there are even more things that you should know about mental health and addictionIf an individual has a substance abuse problem as well as a mental health disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder or anxiety, it can be hard to diagnose. It takes time to figure out what problems might be assigned to a mental disorder and what problems might be assigned to a problem with a substance. In addition, to make things even more difficult the patient most likely will be in great denial. The denial comes with the substance abuse and it often occurs in mental disorders too. Even if the individual does not have a mental disorder it can be hard to admit to a dependence on alcohol or drugs and how the dependence affects your life.
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