Dual-diagnosis

People with bipolar are more likely than other mentally ill folk to have a dual-diagnosis. Almost 50% of us.

"Writing in the August issue of Current Psychiatry, Bryan K. Tolliver lists the severe outcomes that plague the victims of bipolar disorder who are also substance abusers: 'Poor treatment compliance, longer and more frequent mood episodes, more mixed episodes, more hospitalizations, more suicide attempts.'”

The article goes on to talk about some of the hypothesis about why this is so. They haven't found one that fits just right, so researchers are still at it, while a large population of us still suffers. Perhaps one day they'll have a drug that will treat both at the same time? Or maybe AA will get a little more tolerant about talking about co-occurring disorders. In my groups, people talk about their outside help and depression problems all the time, but apparently it's not kosher in all groups. We'll see what home is like. It's a big part of my story, and not something I would feel comfortable omitting.