Читать книгу A Parent's Guide to Substance Abuse and Addiction - Kellena Page - Страница 10

Substance-related disorders, whether it is dependence or abuse, are highly associated with mental disorders. Individuals diagnosed with a mental disorder are twice as likely to abuse or become dependent on alcohol in their lifetime, and are four times as likely to abuse or become dependent on a drug in their lifetime.¹⁶

People with an existing mental disorder may turn to drugs or alcohol to help them cope with their disorder.⁶ This is often referred to as self-medicating.⁶ However, the intoxication effects, long-term use effects, and withdrawal symptoms of a drug can mimic symptoms of mental disorders.¹⁶ Therefore, when a person has a substance-related disorder and a mental disorder, it can be likened to the age-old question of “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Researchers have found support for both scenarios – that an existing mental disorder increases one’s risk of developing a substance-related disorder (table 1), and that substance-related disorders can create certain mental disorder symptoms (table 2). ^{1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8-11, 14, 16-18}