If you have used tobacco products in the last year, you are one of less than 12% of Wichitans who have. But if you live with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, you join up to 90% of those with serious mental illnesses who use tobacco. This dramatic difference is just one example of a co-occurring disorder.
A co-occurring disorder is the name given to a situation where a mental illness and a substance use disorder—commonly known as an addiction—exist together in the same person. They tend to occur when an individual is experiencing the symptoms of a mental illness, but rather than speak to a therapist to put a treatment plan in place, they turn to the short-term symptom relief that can come from alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, or behaviors like gambling, shopping, or pornography. However, the use of these addictive substances or behaviors does not make the underlying mental illness go away. In fact, they exacerbate the illness, making both the symptoms and the addiction worse and harder to treat.
The illness becomes more ingrained in the brain with each passing day, and the addiction structurally changes the brain to require more and more dopamine for the same short-term semblance of relief. The result may be that what could have been a common and easily treatable mental illness now potentially becomes treatment-resistant to mainstream therapies.
If someone you love is displaying symptoms of a mental illness, encourage them to get their annual mental health checkup to catch these concerns early.
