Half of alcoholics and drug addicts suffer from mental health problems
Wednesday, October 11th, 2006
The charity Turning Point have released a report suggesting that 50% of all alcoholics and drug addicts suffer from mental illness, in the UK at least.
Unfortunately many people still associate the term ‘mental illness’ with considerable stigma - as it may conjure up images of psychosis. However the illnesses referred to here are primarily depression and anxiety.
The main point to consider from this is that alcoholics or drug addicts are struggling with addiction as a way to deal with their mental health. Alcohol or drug use often arises as a means of dealing with emotional problems, then from there they develop into additional problems in their own right.
Many alcoholics wonder why they have such a difficult time with alcohol, when others around them seem to cope with it more easily. The answer is often that they have other mental health problems which are not being dealt with.
The only way to beat alcoholism or addiction then is usually to find other ways to deal with depression or anxiety. Once those are having less of an impact on your emotional life, then the purely ‘habit’ element can be addressed.
Because
For most people with an addiction, their over use of alcohol or drugs has arisen from too many unpleasant emotions in their lives.
For those of you who are
Emotional Intelligence is now a fairly popular term, it refers to your ability to understand and deal with your feelings in an adaptive and mature way. When we let our emotions dominate our behaviour without any awareness, it can become a huge problem.
Many people who are depressed turn towards alcohol to make them feel better, at least temporarily. Conversely, many people who use alcohol in a dependent way tend to become depressed. The classic chicken and egg situation.
For most people with alcohol or drugs problems, they often have a number of unresolved difficulties with life generally.

