Can You Drink Alcohol If You Have Bipolar Disorder?

Alcohol abuse can cause symptoms like depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior that can resemble genuine psychiatric illnesses. Other mental health conditions can make bipolar illness more severe and develop earlier. Patients with affective psychosis face challenges in recovery, including noncompliance with treatment, substance abuse, low socioeconomic status, and poor premorbid function. Unipolar depressed patients had high retest reliability, while bipolar patients had more varied responses indicating mood fluctuations .

This mixed mania, as it is called, appears to be accompanied by a greater risk of suicide and is more difficult to treat. Patients who are fully manic often require hospitalization to decrease the risk of harming themselves or others. Bipolar disorder affects approximately 1 to 2 percent of the population and often starts in early adulthood. You’ll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, we will only use your protected health information as outlined in our Notice of Privacy Practices. Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health.

• It’s more severe, with manic episodes lasting for at least a week and depressive episodes lasting for at least two.
• Bipolar II disorder has episodes of depression and hypomanic episodes but no mania.
• They can help you learn about the potential risks of drinking and how to manage them.
• This mixed mania, as it is called, appears to be accompanied by a greater risk of suicide and is more difficult to treat.
• This can make your medications less effective or unpredictable, leading to unstable mood cycles or breakthrough symptoms.

Seeking Professional Help and Support for Dual Diagnosis

If you live with bipolar disorder, drinking alcohol can intensify mood instability, interfere with medications, and complicate recovery. Research shows that nearly half of all people with a mental health condition also experience a drug or alcohol use disorder, and the reverse is also true. Keep reading to explore why bipolar disorder and alcohol misuse are so closely linked, how alcohol worsens symptoms, and what effective dual diagnosis treatment really looks like.

Many individuals living with bipolar disorder turn to alcohol to cope with intense emotions or to manage manic or depressive symptoms. Studies show that more than 60% of people with bipolar disorder develop a co-occurring substance use disorder, and nearly half struggle specifically with alcohol use disorder. Many of the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy are commonly applied in the treatment of both mood disorders and alcoholism. Because, as stated previously, bipolar patients with concomitant alcoholism appear to have more mixed or rapid cycling bipolar disorder than do bipolar patients who are not alcoholic, alcoholic bipolar patients may also respond better to anticonvulsant medications (e.g., valproate) than to lithium therapy.

Treatment of Comorbid Bipolar Disorder and Alcoholism

However, there has been limited research on how to treat individuals who have both alcoholism and another medical condition. According to the literature, self-medicating with alcohol is not an effective treatment for alcoholism, unless it is being used to alleviate the psychological and neurochemical effects caused by alcohol. Programs like those at The Recovery Village offer comprehensive care for co-occurring disorders, providing the therapy, medical support, and guidance needed to set you on the path toward long-term wellness. Bipolar disorder can be emotionally and physically taxing, leading some people to reach for alcohol as a coping mechanism. They may have some symptoms of mania or depression but not meet the specific diagnostic criteria. Cyclothymia, or cyclothymic disorder, involves chronic fluctuations between milder depressive symptoms and hypomanic symptoms for at least two years (one year in children and adolescents).

More in Navigating Life with Bipolar Disorder

Given the prevalence and morbidity of these two disorders, it is important to screen for substance abuse in all bipolar patients and to treat aggressively. Potential study participants were told that the investigators were interested in better understanding the relationship between bipolar disorder and substance abuse and therefore wished to see them monthly for 6 months. Interestingly, the same investigators (Weiss et al. 2000) evaluated the progress of a group of substance abusers with comorbid bipolar spectrum disorders who were pursuing psychosocial treatment independently, rather than as a result of being assigned to it by the researchers. Weiss and colleagues (1999) have developed a relapse prevention group therapy using cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for treating patients with comorbid bipolar disorder and substance use disorder. Psychosocial interventions have often been considered the mainstays of treatment for alcoholism and other substance use disorders.

• It often goes undiagnosed and untreated for long periods, with some patients waiting up to 10 years to receive treatment .
• The focus of the study participants’ psychotherapy also changed, with less emphasis on their specific disorders and more emphasis on family, school, work, and other personal issues.
• Many of the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy are commonly applied in the treatment of both mood disorders and alcoholism.
• Several studies have demonstrated success with cognitive behavioral therapy in treating alcoholism (Project MATCH Research Group 1998).

Mental Health and Loneliness

However, with proper support and treatment, many individuals with bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder and alcohol can successfully manage their condition and achieve long-term sobriety. Fortunately, there are numerous resources available for individuals dealing with both bipolar disorder and alcohol use issues. A comprehensive treatment approach that addresses both the bipolar disorder and the alcohol use is typically most effective. For individuals grappling with both bipolar disorder and alcohol concerns, developing effective management strategies is crucial.

Before Your Deductible Resets, Invest in Your Recovery

Verify your insurance today – treatment could be more affordable than you think. This is the best time of year to begin treatment. These mood changes are not simply fluctuations in attitude; they reflect profound neurochemical shifts that often require long-term management. When alcohol enters the picture, complications can multiply. We can guide you in approaching a loved one who needs treatment. Our free, confidential telephone consultation will help you find treatment that will work for you, whether it is with us or a different program.

Hope, Healing, and Long-Term Support at BrightQuest For Bipolar Disorder and Alcohol Abuse

Co-occurring alcohol misuse can make bipolar disorder far more dangerous and difficult to manage without structured clinical support. People who mix alcohol with bipolar medications or therapy are less likely to follow treatment plans consistently. Alcohol can worsen mood instability, increase depression, and intensify manic episodes, leading to greater emotional volatility and risk.

Avoiding alcohol is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your stability and overall health. This can make your medications less effective or unpredictable, leading to unstable mood cycles or breakthrough symptoms. Alcohol interacts with mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and antipsychotics in ways that can reduce their effectiveness or create serious health risks.

People with bipolar disorder have an increased risk of alcohol use disorder, which is a serious condition that can negatively affect their physical, mental, and social well-being. Alcohol use can cause symptoms of depression, mania, or hypomania to worsen if you have bipolar disorder. According to a 2020 review, 24% to 44% of people with bipolar disorder have developed alcohol use disorder at some point in their life. Limiting or avoiding alcohol may help reduce symptoms of bipolar disorder and support your health. Alcohol use can worsen symptoms of depression, mania, or hypomania if you have bipolar disorder.

Enlightenment View of Addiction: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Substance…

Substance abuse is common in bipolar disorder patients and can worsen their illness. In prisons, the comorbidity of addiction and severe mental disorders is especially high with disorders like antisocial personality, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorders . Group psychotherapy is an effective treatment that provides psychological support and education for those with recurring depressive illness or bipolar disorder 4,5. Poor prognostic factors are double depression, co-morbid physical disease, personality disorders or alcohol dependence, chronic ongoing stress, poor drug compliance, and marked mood incongruent features. Diagnosis is alcohol dependence syndrome with bipolar affective disorder, and the current episode is hypomanic without psychotic symptoms. This suggests that valproate, an anticonvulsant mood stabilizer, could have practical use in treating bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence simultaneously .

Can Alcohol Cause Bipolar Disorder?

Behavior therapy includes various techniques such as social skills training, problem-solving strategies, assertiveness training, self-control treatment, activity scheduling, and decision-making techniques. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a form of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy that aims to change a person’s personality rather than just treating their symptoms. It can be utilized as a standalone treatment or in conjunction with antidepressants to address mild to moderate unipolar depression 4,5. Interpersonal therapy aims to pinpoint and explore issues related to relationships, role conflicts, life changes, loneliness, or difficulties with social skills that may contribute to depression. It is often used as a supplement to physical therapy and is particularly useful in cases of mild to moderate depression.

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Psychotherapeutic and psychosocial interventions are effective in treating substance use disorders. Alcohol dependency increases the risk of bipolar disorder by 3% compared to the general population’s 1%. Bipolar disorder causes extreme mood swings from euphoria to severe depression and affects 1-2% of the population.

Clinical settings for mental health and addiction have higher odds of this comorbidity. Comorbidities, such as substance use disorder and anxiety disorder, have not been studied separately . Anticonvulsants can manage acute episodes and address the underlying temperament that drives the desire for mood enhancement and activation.