Substance Abuse, Mental Illness and Suicide
by Lisa Frederiksen
NPR’s news program, today, “Commanders Have Ignored Major Mental Health Issues, Army Report Concludes,” reinforces the importance of talking about the connection between substance abuse and mental illness. [Note: substance abuse and addiction are two different things, although both cause changes in the brain.]
Substance abuse (whether it is of alcohol and/or prescription or illegal drugs) causes chemical and structural changes in the brain (see SPECT scan below). Thirty-seven percent of alcohol abusers and fifty-three percent of drug abusers [NOT addicts or alcoholics but drug or alcohol abusers] also have at least one serious mental illness,(1)(2) such as depression, PTSD, bipolar, anxiety, schizophrenia. Often what happens is the person starts to drink or use drugs to self-medicate the mental illness.
When you change the chemical and structural make-up of the brain, you change how the brain works, which in turn, changes how a person thinks, feels and behaves. This is because “neural networks” in the brain control EVERYTHING we think, feel, say and do. “Neural network” is a name for the process by which neurons talk to one another. In the brain, neurons are also known as brain cells. The way our brain cells talk to one another is determined by how our neural networks wire – talk to one another. Drinking too much or abusing drugs interrupts neural networks, which is part of what makes a person unable to think straight or behave “normally.” Repeatedly drinking too much or abusing drugs can cause chemical and structural changes in the brain like those shown in the image on the left, below.
SPECT Surface Scans, Courtesy Amen Clinics, Inc., www.amenclinics.com
LEFT = SPECT Surface Scan confirming substance abuse. RIGHT = SPECT Surface Scan of normal brain.
Now look at SPEC Surface Scans of the brain of a person with ADHD below (for comparisons, look at the bottom, right scan — that’s the same view as the two scans above). As you can see, mental illness also changes the brain.
SPECT Surface Scan Showing ADHD, Courtesy Amen Clinics, Inc., www.amenclinics.com
Looking at scans like these helps one see what substance abuse (such as repeated binge drinking) and mental illness, such as ADHD, do to the structural make-up of the brain. This in turn can help you appreciate why a person whose brain has experienced these kinds of changes does not “think” or “behave” normally. It helps explain, in part, why suicide can seem like the best option to those who suffer from an undiagnosed, untreated mental illness and a substance abuse problem. A person suffering PTSD or bipolar or anxiety or depression needs help (see Resources below). A person who is abusing substances also needs help (again, see Resources below).
Looking at these kinds of scans also helps us appreciate that just removing the substance – the “coping skill” – without replacing it with something else (such as treatment and/or medication for the mental illness), or treating the mental illness without stopping the substance abuse, is a set-up for failure.
THE BOTTOM LINE: the brain change change. A person can heal their brains with proper treatment. Healing the brain changes how a person thinks, feels and behaves.
RESOURCES:
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers a Locator database with comprehensive information about mental health services and resources in the United States.
The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) offers excellent, free self-help programs. Visit www.nami.org for information and locations in your community.
NIAAA’s (National Instittue on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) Rethinking Drinking website can help a person anonymously assess his/her drinking patterns and find tips for cutting down.
Bring Change 2 Mind.org – working to end the stigma associated with mental illness.
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(1) “Factsheet: Dual Diagnosis,” Mental Health America, <http://www.nmha.org/index.cfm?objectid=C7DF9405-1372-4D20-C89D7BD2CD1CA1B9>
(2) “Dual Diagnosis and Integrated Treatment of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Disorder,” National Alliance on Mental Illness, <http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Dual_Diagnosis_and_Integrated_Treatment_of_Mental_Illness_and_Substance_Abuse_Disorder.htm>
