Bipolar disorder is marked by feeling either up or down. Similar to the feeling of going from sober to drunk, or sober to high. Then further marked by the distinctive low of a hangover from drinking or the recovery time from a night of drug use. Whether you’re bipolar or not, often times people drink to get rid of or “smooth” over certain feelings or concerns, including inhibitions, something that most bipolar sufferers deal with on a daily basis. While there may not be anything wrong with disinhibition on it’s own, the effect the “high” delivers can lead to serious loss of impulse control and eventually the bipolar sufferer won’t be able to control the ride up, nor the “come down” and will end up crashing into an uncomfortable, temporary depression.
First, it’s fairly obvious that the introduction of mind altering chemicals into the brain doesn’t exactly help to sustain mental stability. With almost all recreational drugs there is some kind of “high” associated with experience. That’s why people do it. But following any substance induced high, there’s almost always the experience of coming down. And usually that translates into a “low” mood feeling.
When most of us think of mental illness we automatically register that alcohol and narcotics don’t mix well, or should even factor in to someone’s treatment or recovery. Realistically, however, mentally ill people do drink even though the end results may not be good. In the article one of the students likens drinking alcohol while being bipolar to “pouring gasoline on a slow burning fire”. She goes on to say that while drinking she either ends up high, low or both. It would seem that bipolar sufferers get mixed into the so called “youth drinking” culture, and by that I mean that they don’t simply drink a beer or one mixed drink, they drink to become intoxicated. In the end, it would seem, if you do suffer from bipolar disorder (or most mental disorders) that alcohol should not factor in to your life unless you have very good impulse control, or as the article puts it: “It’s pretty simple. If you want to live well with bipolar disorder, then drugs and alcohol don’t factor into the equation.”