1. By Trudi Endof-Horn

2. “37% of alcohol
abusers and
53% of drug “29% of those
abusers also diagnosed as
have at least mentally ill a
one serious use alcohol or
mental illness. drugs”
“

3. Is one the
cause of the
other?
Does our DNA
make us more
prone to
addiction or
mental illness?

4. A mental health problem left
untreated can lead to
substance abuse and addiction
and vise a versa.
Use of drugs and/or alcohol
may also increase the
symptoms or create new ones.
“Alcohol and drug abuse can increase underlying risk for
mental disorders. Mental disorders are caused by a
complex interplay of genetics, the environment, and
other outside factors. If you are at risk for a mental

5. Self-medicating is often used by
the person with a mental illness,
to make them feel normal.
“In other cases, mental
disorders are caused by drug
abuse”
“MDMA, commonly known as
Ecstasy, produces long-term
deficits in serotonin function
in the brain, leading to
mental disorders such as
depression and anxiety”

6. The brain registers all pleasure the same way
regardless of the cause.
When the pleasure is
received, it releases
the neurotransmitter
dopamine in the
nucleus accumbens,
also known as the
“reward pathway”
The hippocampus
lays down
memories of this
rapid sense of
satisfaction.
The amygdala creates a conditioned
response to certain stimuli.
The reward pathway remembers the pleasurable sensation which
creates a “tolerance” in the individual, causing the need for more
substance to mimic the feeling.

7. According to National Institute on
Drug Abuse (NIDA), it is estimated
that 40% to 60% of a person’s
vulnerability to addiction is
attributed to genetics.
“Several regions of the human
Mental Addiction genome have been linked to
Health Issues increased risk of both drug use
and mental illness”
Addiction and mental illness
have overlapping factors such
as brain deficits, genetic
vulnerabilities, and/or early
exposure to stress or trauma.
There are risk factors such as parents with substance abuse or
mental health issues, history of abuse, divorce or separation,
environment, and social attitudes, that all contribute as well.

8. Although mental health and drug addiction can
be linked together, it does not prove that one
makes you more susceptible to the other.
The changes created in the brain by drug
addiction does affect some of the same areas
of some mental illnesses.
It is not surprising that they can and have been
linked together
Once a person has been diagnosed with dual
disorders, it is best to treat them together and not
as individual illnesses.
Having a supportive family and friends is the
start to learning to control and surpass mental
illness as well as substance addiction.

9.  www.drugabuse.gov (NIDA National Institute on Drug
Abuse)
 www.helpguide.org (Harvard Health Publications)
 Www.helpguide.org (Substance Abuse and Mental Health.
01/2012)
 www.helpguide.org (Drug Abuse and Addiction. 01/2012)
 www.nmha.org (MHA. Mental Health America. Dual
Diagnosis. 11/1990)
 www.education.com (Substance Abuse and Co-Existing
Psychiatric Disorder)
 www.justice.gov (Drug Abuse and Mental Illness. Fast
Facts)