Family Support in Battling Bipolar Disorder and Addiction

Research has found that individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder have up to about a 56% chance of struggling with substance use disorders. Battling bipolar disorder and addiction can lead to dangerous consequences within your personal and professional life. Not only do both conditions, left untreated, harm your mental health and well-being, but this co-occurring disorder can significantly hurt relationships with loved ones. Having family support is critical to helping you overcome your addiction, better manage your bipolar disorder symptoms, and live a happier, healthier life. In this article, you’ll learn more about why having family support is so important if you are struggling with bipolar disorder and addiction.

At Arista Recovery, we are an addiction treatment center that helps recovering addicts and their families overcome addiction and lead a happier, healthier life. We understand how isolating a disease like addiction can be. That’s why our compassionate staff is here to help you every step of the way to heal and maintain life-long sobriety.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you on your recovery journey.

Why is the Relationship Between Bipolar Disorder and Addiction?

Before diving into how important family support is for a recovering addict struggling with bipolar disorder, it’s first important to understand the connection between bipolar disorder and drug addiction. Oftentimes, individuals struggling with bipolar disorder experience shifts in mood which cause a series of manic and depressive episodes. Many individuals may turn to drugs or alcohol as a means to self-medicate; however, drugs and alcohol only temporarily relieve symptoms (if that). Not to mention, continued drug or alcohol abuse can lead to developing an addiction and worsening one’s bipolar disorder symptoms.

Therefore, if you or someone you know is struggling with bipolar disorder and addiction, it can significantly hurt your physical and mental health and well-being for the worse. This is because addiction can fuel and worsen your bipolar disorder symptoms, which can increase an individual’s likelihood of engaging in more dangerous behavior.

Why is Family Support So Important?

Now that you know more about the relationship between bipolar disorder and addiction, it’s important to understand how significant a supportive group, like family support, can be in helping an individual overcome addiction and lead a healthier life. Although co-occurring addiction recovery treatment is a great first step toward recovery, family support is critical for a recovering addict before, during, and after treatment. This is because the road to recovery can be a challenging journey, this is especially true after a patient returns back to their everyday life after receiving treatment.

Having supportive friends and family behind a recovering addict will not only keep them accountable and stable as they navigate life after rehab and sobriety, family can offer understanding and a rock to lean as they progress along their road to recovery.

Relapse is a major threat to a recovering addict after receiving treatment. However, with a family to lean on during hard times (whether from daily life stressors, triggers, or craving to abuse drugs), this can help a recovering addict reduce their likelihood of falling victim to old destructive habits. Plus, family provides ongoing motivation for a recovering addict to keep up with their sobriety long-term.

Therefore, although an addict with bipolar disorder may experience fractured relationships with loved ones due to their behavior, it’s critical that their family gathers together to support them as they will provide them accountability, stability, and motivation to maintain sobriety and continue to seek treatment to manage their bipolar symptoms.

Start Your Road to Recovery

If you or someone you know is struggling with bipolar disorder and drug or alcohol addiction, family support is essential to help that individual not only overcome their addiction safely and effectively but better manage their bipolar symptoms. While one’s family is not responsible for helping them quit using, the family can play a critical role in helping an addict with bipolar disorder seek professional treatment and further provide ongoing support during and after treatment.

You should never feel too afraid or ashamed to ask for help when trying to overcome your addiction. At Arista Recovery, we offer a range of addiction treatment programs so patients can receive tailored support to best help them along their recovery journey. Whether you are struggling with a substance use disorder or co-occurring disorder, we provide several treatment options to ensure patients can regain control of their lives for the better.

Ready to start your road to recovery? Contact us today!

‍