Studies Show Bipolar Teens Are at Higher Risk of Substance Abuse and Addiction

According to new research published in August 2016's Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, teens who suffer from bipolar disorder are more likely to develop drug, alcohol and tobacco addictions. 

The Study of Bipolar Teens and Substance Abuse

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted a study that included over 100 teenage volunteers who suffered from bipolar disorder. After five years of the study, the Massachusetts General Hospital's research team was able to track down 68 of the original participants. The research team was able to conclude that the participants who had bipolar disorder were at an elevated risk of becoming addicts as 49 % of those with the disorder admitted to abusing new substances, almost double the rate (26%) of those who did not suffer from bipolar disorder.

While these findings seem to be staggering, the research team was not yet finished with their eye-opening, scientific revelations. "We also made another interesting finding — that those originally diagnosed with bipolar disorder who continued to have symptoms five years later were at an even higher risk for cigarette smoking and substance use disorder than those whose symptoms were reduced either because of remission from bipolar disorder or from treatment," said lead author of both studies Dr. Timothy Wilens, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Mass.

"The addition of new research seems to reaffirm that teens who suffer from bipolar disorder become increasingly at risk of developing addictive traits as they age." - Pixabay, Public Domain

Bipolar Emotional Disorders and ADHD 

The research team was also able to conclude that only bipolar teens who were also diagnosed with emotional disorders that caused them to act out in anti-social and sometimes violent outbursts were at higher risk of abusing harmful substances. The team was also shocked to see that the same was not true for the bipolar participants who also had ADHD, as these participants' Attention Deficit Disorder had no effect on their potential of abusing drugs or alcohol like previously suspected.

For Further Reading...

Teens With Mental Health Condition At Increased Risk For Substance Abuse

Teenagers suffering from bipolar disorder are especially at risk of developing later drug problems by the time they reach adulthood, finds new research published Tuesday in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted a follow-up investigation of more than hundred teenagers diagnosed with bipolar disorder that they had extensively interviewed five years earlier. After reinterviewing the 68 participants they were able to track down, the researchers once again found that these now-young adults had an elevated risk of suffering a substance use disorder or becoming smokers compared to a control group that was similarly followed.

via Bipolar Disorder And Addiction: Teens With Mental Health Condition At Increased Risk For Substance