A lot of mental health consumers also have a serious problem with drugs and alcohol. The medial profession calls this problem a "co-concurrent disorder." This condition requires a special treatment regime. You just can't treat the mental illness and ignore the addiction. You just can't treat the addiction and ignore the mental illness. Both need to be treated simultaneously in order for the consumer to have a successful recovery. Recovery is truly possible but not all consumers recover. There are different rates and different levels of recovery. Some recover very well and others do not. Even though not all recover at the same level it is still possible for those with co-concurrent disorder to still find happiness, joy, peace, and contentment. It is possible to learn to cope and deal with their symptoms so that the person can function in life.
Some consumers use drugs and alcohol to self-medicate in order to cover up their psychotic symptoms and to ease the pain and suffering. There is a paradox here. When a person is experiencing psychotic symptoms and uses drugs to cover them up the drugs causes the person to have worse psychotic symptoms. Yet somehow using causes them to feel better even though they are living in their own psychotic little world. I personally feel that the consumer that is stoned and psychotic doesn't know that something is wrong. They think that what they are experiencing is just normal. They do not know the difference.
Other consumers know that the psychotic symptoms they are experiencing are not quite right. They know that something is wrong. They know that they are ill. Yet with this knowledge they use and abuse drugs and alcohol. Why is this? Because addiction is a real biological, psychological, and spiritual disease. The disease of addiction affects the whole person. It's deep within their hearts, minds, souls, and body. If you combine this with the disease of schizophrenia you have a deadly combination.
You have a person experiencing psychotic symptoms as a result of their schizophrenia abusing drugs which also cause psychotic symptoms. They are getting a double dose of psychotic symptoms. These people are living in their own little world completely cut off from reality. They cannot tell what is real and what is not. They experience both visual and auditory hallucinations. They are seeing things and hearing things. They might see a friend standing in front of them carrying on a conversation with them when in fact that friend is not there.
The symptoms of schizophrenia and addiction can cause horrific delusions. They might be listening to the radio and think that they are getting special messages from the DJ. and also from the lyrics of the music. They might think that they are the only ones in existence and the music and words are coming from God just for them. There is just God and themselves in existence and they are having a special relationship with each other.
I have just listed some of the problems and symptoms of co-concurrent disorder. Now the important question is: How can people with this problem achieve recovery? You have the disease of schizophrenia and the disease of addiction dwelling in the same mind and body. The issues here are not the same as one with just a mental illness or one with just the disease of addiction. We have two separate diseases dwelling inside the same person. The treatment for each one is totally different. So, how do you go about treating this condition? With great difficulty.
The first thing that has to be done is to have the person detoxified. The person has to get clean and get the drugs out of their system. The medication for their schizophrenia will not work if there are drugs in the persons system. The anti-psychotic medication should be administered while they are being detoxified. The sooner they are given medication the sooner their symptoms can be brought under control. Although the medication don't work for everyone it does help some get their symptoms under pretty good control. Especially now with all the newer medications that are being developed. These new medications called a-typical medications work really well at controlling positive symptoms as well as the negative symptoms.
Getting detoxified and being put on a medication regime is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more to recovery than that. Next comes the psychological and the spiritual part of the treatment. Addiction is just as psychological and spiritual as it is physical. Therefore you cannot just treat the physical part of the disease. Once the drugs are out of the persons system and the physical craving for the drugs is gone now you need to treat the rest of the person. This is where the difficulty arises. You have to find a way to treat both illness's at the same time which have totally different symptoms. So, you need to treat the symptoms of both problems simultaneously.
Once the positive symptoms are under control as a result of the medication then the person has to overcome the negative symptoms of their schizophrenia. These symptoms are apathy, blunted feelings, and many times depression.
Apathy is that lack of motivation and lack of interest in life. A person suffering from apathy is not able to do anything. Some people go two or three weeks between showers. They are not able to do housework, cook meals, read for long periods of time, do any manual labor. Anything that the person attempts to do only lasts about five minutes and they have to stop. These are very difficult symptoms to get control of and overcome. There is a lot of hard psychological work. It is definitely not easy.
Blunted feelings is another difficult symptom to overcome. The person is experiencing very intense feelings especially when suffering from the psychological problems caused by getting clean and sober. But the person is not able to express these feelings outwardly towards other people. People view them as a piece of dead driftwood not showing any feelings whatsoever. In order to recover from their addiction and schizophrenia they need to have that oneness and connection with others. If they are not able to express their feelings they are not able to have that fellowship and relationship with others which is a basic need of all human beings.
Depression is a very major obstacle to overcome. Many consumers suffer from severe depression without the disease of addiction. One of the major problems an addict has when they are seeking recovery is that relentless depression they experience when they first get clean and sober. They feel so helpless and hopeless. To them it looks like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Everything is so dark and bleak. Some when starting recovery and are battling the symptoms of their schizophrenia entertain suicidal thoughts. Some even attempt it. Some of them even succeed.
But those who have that drive within and are fighters they never give up and fight tooth and nail until the objective is achieved. Recovery. It's an uproad battle all the way. They are willing to do whatever it takes to recover. They will do anything to recover. They have been living in the pit of hell and they want to climb out of that pit and dwell in the sunlight.
The symptoms of addiction are very complex. There is the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of addiction. Mental in the sense that an addict has that relentless obsession thinking about drugs and alcohol. All an addict thinks about is getting stoned or drunk. Where they are going to get their next fix An addict cannot get these thoughts out of their mind. They think about nothing else. There is also a paradox here. When the person is stoned or drunk all they think about is quiting. When they are clean and sober all they think about is getting stoned or drunk.
The physical part of addiction is that when an addict takes a drug or alcohol into their system their body develops a physical compulsion for more. When the drugs start to wear off the body cries out for more. They physically crave the drug. If no drugs are taken into their system they have physical withdrawal which is very difficult to overcome. A lot of addicts cannot stand the withdrawal and use again. In fact most addicts cannot get clean unless they go to detox. Going there makes their detoxification a lot easier. At detox they administer drugs to help with the withdrawal.
The spiritual part of addiction is a very profound aspect of the disease. It's hard to put into words. An addict is self-centered, self-willed, self-seeking, and self-absorbed. They only think about themselves and never think about other people unless it would benefit them in some way. This is a very difficult aspect of the disease to recover from because this part of the disease is very deep within their inner being. It takes a lot of effort, determination, motivation, discipline, and a lot of hard work.
I f the consumer can have all these symptoms treated simultaneously they stand a better chance of obtaining recovery. Recovery is truly possible but not in all cases. If my reader is experiencing both the symptoms of schizophrenia and addiction you should consider seeking treatment. It would be of great benefit to you and it would help you get well.
I would like to end by saying that I personally believe that I have some authority in the topics I have been discussing due to the fact that I have schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and that I am a recovering addict and alcoholic. I will be clean and sober for nine years in December of 2008. There is hope.
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