Wake up and smell the coffee- Bipolar and Alcoholism

Alcoholism/Substance abuse and bipolar disorder commonly co-occur.  Studies have indicated they co-occur at higher than expected rates which explains the epidemic of narcotic/illicit substance addiction, alcoholism, poly-pharm abuse, broken homes, increased unemployment statistics and overdose death rates.  

In my professional and personal encounters I have personally witnessed the devastation bi-polar disorder exacerbated by substance abuse brings to the life of the individual and their family.  I have found that the mood swings and poor impulse control leads the individual to find a pathway to modulate their dysfunctional brain chemistry.  One person that I am acquainted with personally, has chosen alcohol and illicit drugs in attempt to cope.  His alcohol use began at or around age 15 and has progressed to the present that finds most of his waking hours consumed with thoughts and actual use of alcohol.  His life is riddled with broken relationships, legal issues, poor employment history and numerous psychiatric hospitalizations.  I am most intrigued as to how the two disorders interact to completely blind him to the cumulative effect of each on the other and the direct cause and effect relationship to the many issues in his life. The overt function of his mental illness creates a delusional existence in which he is always the victim and he has formed elaborate falsehood justifications for every negative consequence in his life. 

   it's fairly obvious that the introduction of mind altering chemicals into the brain doesn't exactly help to sustain mental stability. With almost all recreational drugs there is some kind of "high" associated with experience. That's why people do it. But following any substance induced high, there's almost always the experience of coming down. And usually that translates into a "low" mood feeling.

   Drinking a beer or glass of wine has been scientific proven to present some positive health benefits and is not an issue if one is able to apply good judgment and adequate impulse control. The problem is that everyone with bipolar disorder intermittently becomes hypomanic or manic. It's what defines the diagnosis. And in these elevated mood states, bipolar individuals almost always experience some degree of impaired impulse control. During the elevated mood phase they're usually feeling up, energized, gregarious, cognitively accelerated and creative.  The problem is that once their mood extends above the mildly elevated range, they often lose the capacity to modulate or turn down their mood-related intensity. It's like the wheels of hypomania become lubricated and they keep picking up speed.  That's what's wrong with alcohol-related disinhibition. It further greases the wheels of elevated mood. The challenge faced by those with bipolar disorder is one of figuring out how to do the opposite. They've got to become skillful at applying the brakes and slowing back down to a healthy speed.  To do so however, they have to show some degree of desire to change and begins with not introducing alcohol or other mind-altering substances outside of their psychiatrist prescribed medication designed to assist them in obtaining stability.  Then the real work begins- re-integrating back into normal society and repairing all the damage done through their self-centeredness.

Karma and Impulsive Behavior

Karma can be defined as the total effect of one's actions. A given cause will lead to an action and will have a given effect. For example, being envious and coveting the spouse of another (cause), will cause a negative action (effect) more than likely from the offended person but definitely in some area of the offenders life. The offender, when suffering a mental illness (statistics prove the majority that seek to destroy anothers marital relationship are mentally ill), generally take the "victim" role and proceed to make other bad choices in response to the negative consequences experienced.  In light of this, the offender becomes trapped in 
their own karmic web. Constantly being formed by the cause and effect of their actions.  Whether they choose to over-indulge in alcohol and other substances, seek to ignore societal boundaries and find themselves on a path of numerous legal issues, alienating their family through their decisions, all will mesh together to find the offender continually denying their responsibility and creating a delusional existence justifying their negative actions.  This path is characteristic of sociopathology and borderline personality disorder.  Imagine if you would how Hollywood depicts the classic mental hospital scene- patients sitting in a room, some painting, some sitting around tables with crayons, others sitting staring blankly through barred windows.  Each patient pictured is engaging in the form of self-expression (coping strategy) that they have chosen to bring their unhealthy delusions into existence in a safe manner.  Each person, prior to being hospitalized, has a story of those same delusions being acted out and most in a destructive manner.  I have blogged in the past about how mental illness, specifically Border-line and sociopathic disorders, will bring about a level of perceived creativity in the sufferer.  Many times the creativity is therapeutic as long as the mindset isn't one of denial.  If the sufferer has not atoned for their wrong doings and they justify themselves as a victim then karma continues to feed their negative existence. 

One can escape karma no more than they can gravity although I believe what we focus on is what we attract.  If an individual lives blaming others for the mistakes they make and always maintain the mindset that they are a victim then they will attract negative consequences due to their negative thoughts and actions.  I have seen people who continually find themselves in difficult situations and culture the victim mentality.  They develop a bitterness toward authority and boundaries only to find themselves frequently experiencing negative consequences from ignoring legal establishments and normal relationships.  Combined with active mental illness, their issues are magnified. It is interesting that these individuals focus on simple or token good deeds and believe that the few they perform completely erases the severe negative deeds that define their existence.  When caught and faced with the consequences, they attempt to deflect or ascribe fault to everyone but themselves.  The simple truth is that one can't run, can't hide from karma.  For every negative action their is a consequence.  There is no scorecard, no storage pool where good karma builds up to stand to negate the negative.  You reap what you sow.  If one betrays established boundaries, negative consequences will hunt them down and make all wrongs, right.  That is a universal law.  All those that were injured in some way have to do is sit back and watch the show.

As The World Turns....

Working through a busy schedule today of individuals that have at one time or another, lost track of reality due to psychiatric issues I found something interesting.  A new understanding that I thought I already was aware but obviously wasn't because of my satisfaction at the insight.  Addiction, depression and specifically bipolar disorder is not exacerbated by geographic location.  This, I know, is Psychology 101 but for some odd reason this new illumination feels as though its the first time. Most pronounced is the specific behaviors and thought processes shared in men with bipolar disorder.  I find that in those I'm familiar, they hold some belief that they maintain some form of romantic/sexual prowess and go to great lengths to display (paint a picture) their belief to the world.  As I typed the last sentence it came to my mind that in doing so they are presenting a falsehood in attempt to lure an unsuspecting female.  Fact is, one male with whom I am familiar, only displays this behavior when he is moving into a manic phase and only to entice a woman into what will become an abusive relationship.  I guess it is a survival mechanism allowing him to cope with the severely damaged life he has created.  Couple this with the fact that alcohol and other illicit substances are firmly anchored in his daily existence, it reveals severe insecurities.  It's really pathetic! Looking at his track record (psychiatric hospital admissions and legal issues) in conjunction with his current cycle (Casanova syndrome), it won't be long before he once again crashes, finding himself  again hospitalized or incarcerated..  All because he is too stupid to embrace psychiatric assistance and hold to healthy boundaries.  It's important to develop an accurate introspective inventory but I guess for some it is easier to cope with not truly knowing oneself.

Life, Love, Death and Betrayal

Life is full of ups and downs.  One just needs to be observant and look around at the issues going on in the world today.  So many esoteric events impact our individual lives.  It's like a pebble that is dropped in calm water.  On initial impact the surface tension of the water is disrupted and the kinetic energy causes ripples to form, the magnitude directly proportional to the size of the rock.  

The problems (the rocks) we face in life (the water surface) create ripple effects the same.  One thing for certain in life is we will always have to deal with ripples whether from the problems direct in our lives or as a byproduct of problems in the lives of those around us.  Many people fear and are ill prepared to cope with the ripples.  I have found that the best way to cope is to understand that nothing is as bad as it seems and in most instances, we manufacture much more dire circumstances than, what in actuality, even the worst problem would manifest.  Think about it, the worst possible outcome and the one end result most people fear is death.  I have found that there is something worse than death and that is betrayal.  In life and love through the highs and lows, being betrayed can cause a person to long for death to escape the hurt, uncertainty and pain of total loss of trust placed in another.  Betrayal can be at the hands of a loved one, family, a friend or employer.  Most have experienced hurt and betrayal from one of the above and unfortunately some have experienced from multiple people from those categories.  The degree of hurt varies to the closeness of the  relationship but each cause ripples felt long after the initial impact.  Each ripple is representative of the feelings of hurt, emptiness, anger, bitterness and loneliness that one has the draining task of living with day to day.  Dealing with such emotions is difficult. Some turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the emptiness they feel to the degree that their very existence is identified and hinges on the use of a substance.  Should the drug/alcohol be removed they would be lost and struggle to find their identity.  Others retreat within themselves, shutting out the world around them, unable and unwilling to open themselves up to trust again.  The rawness of emotion causing apprehension in just the thoughts of functioning in society.  There are those that allow anger and bitterness to burn as fuel to morph into an individual bent on vindication.  They fundamentally ignore compassion and sympathy with determination to never again allow themselves to be in a position to be the betrayed.  

I have experienced betrayal at multiple levels- family, loved ones, friends and employers.  Each have presented with a different magnitude but all formed ripples that I will be dealing with the rest of my life.  I have struggled and found myself dealing in the different ways.  The varying magnitudes proved that there are definitely worse things than death and I can understand the peaceful longing for such an escape.  However, through it all I found that with a few exceptions, things are never as bad as what they seem and regardless of our innate desires nothing good ever comes from completely trusting anyone.