on bipolar solutions

Anytime somebody has a chronic problem or condition in life whether they are aware of it or not they come up with ways to cope with or somehow solve it.  Those who suffer from bipolar disorder are no different.  The problem with “solutions” is that although they seem to make it better or at least make us feel better, they normally either make the problem worse in the long run or create new problems that are just as bad or worse.

The most common “solution” to bipolar is substance abuse.  An incredible amount of people with bipolar end up turning to substance abuse to medicate their condition.  I have worked for several years in adolescent drug rehabs and time after time observed the same thing.  A kid with drug problems describes forlornly how drugs are the only thing that makes him “feel normal”.  I have had kids with mania problems describe how without drugs they are totally out of control, “…its all that keeps me calm….” I have had kids with problems with depression describe how numb they feel without drugs and it is all that makes them feel alive.  “Without drugs I don’t like anything and nobody likes me…” What normally happens is that they are threatened with sufficient legal consequences to get them to stop using and after a while they find being sober intolerable and go back to using regardless of what consequences you threaten them with. 

I have listened to more than one legal official tell me that the jails are filled with people who got into trouble for medicating their emotional problems.  It is a common progression that costs everyone in this society, not just those with bipolar.  Bipolar leads to substance abuse which leads to crime which leads to the bipolar being more out of control since the root cause is never dealt with which leads to substance abuse and so on ad nauseam.  It is a burgeoning process, which is choking the legal system.  The connected effects on families, businesses, jobs, the health system, and the overall social fabric of this society literally make it a public health emergency, which somehow very few see and even fewer are trying to do something about.  People who start using drugs to medicate emotional illness normally continuing using drugs regardless of the legal consequences that accrue to them.

Substance abuse is not the only “solution” to bipolar disorder that you find.  Depression for kids feels in many cases like being numb and they are attracted to anything that offers the antidote to numbness.  This can include things like hyper sexuality, gang membership, and acting out of almost any kind, thrill seeking and risk taking behavior of the most extreme sort.  The potential list is endless and requires only a bit of observation to fill out further.  Kids with problems with mania are frequently chronically irritated and find refuge in anything that offers them an acceptable way to express what is often a constantly confrontive approach to life and everyone in it.

There is a more final solution to bipolar disorder which has led to many people calling bipolar a terminal disease: suicide.  Whether it be major depression or the depressive side of bipolar there is another major health emergency in this country:  the suicide of many people who suffer from unsuccessfully treated mental illness.  This is particularly true of our young people.  These are some of the more recent statistics I have seen:  Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people among people 15 –24 years old.  Every day 12 young people die by suicide.  53% of young people who die by suicide have abused drugs or alcohol.  At the public policy level we get so overwhelmed with the urgency of the rise in gas prices and the economy that the importance keeping our young people alive is lost.  We just assume it is going to be okay.  It won’t get better unless we make it so.  A last terrifying statistic on bipolar.  1 in 5 people with bipolar will attempt suicide in their life time.  Think carefully about what that means.  At a time when the Congress is still arguing about whether or not people with mental illness deserve the same medical coverage as those with physical illness something seems so out of place.

I remember reading a book one time where a psychologist was talking about solutions.  He said there are no problems in life, only  difficulties.  The difficulties become problems when we try to solve them. Bipolar solutions  make immense problems.  They leave life in shambles for anyone who has the misfortune to come within their reach.