Since this is new, I should give any potential reader a little insight into our lives.
I am married to a wonderful man who suffers from bipolar disorder and alcoholism, thus he is classified under dual diagnosis. My husband and I have been married for going on seven years now. And our marriage has been anything but "happily ever after". Going into the marriage, I wasn't naive, I knew it would have it's problems, what I didn't know is how many or how devastating the road ahead would be.
When I married my husband, neither of us knew about the bipolar and I didn't yet suspect a drinking problem. We were in our mid-twenties and partying was still a semi-normal aspect of our lives. I thought then the biggest difficulties would be blending our seperate families into one and creating additional members together........how naive I was there. Together we have seven children, four of them live with us and three of them are spread out. Two we see on long week-ends, one we aren't good enough to see (again.....this will come up later). The four that live with us are mine (one) and ours (three). We do our best to provide a normal environment for these children, despite the constant effort of others to stop that.
Over the last seven years we have experienced more than our fair share of tribulations and very few triumphs, but here I will as I always have remain hopeful that this torturously bumpy road we travel will eventually smooth it's way out into a smooth road enabling a joyous stroll for us and our family.
Pathway's of Life
There is always more than one and neither is ever clear.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
What is dual diagnosis?
Dual Diagnosis is a medical term used to categorize a person that suffers from both a mental disorder or illness and a dependency such as alcohol or drug abuse.
It is common to find that a person who suffers from a mental disorder such as bipolar, also has a problem with drinking or drugs or vice-versa. Both disorders can lead to emotional, financial and relationship problems on their own, combing the two can be twice as difficult.
Most people who suffer from a dual diagnosis are often diagnosed with either the mental illness or a substance abuse problem first and the other is discovered later.
For example, alcohol abuse can make if very difficult to medically treat the symptoms of bipolar disorder. The alcohol is a self-medication that allows the individual to feel temporary relief from effects of bipolar disorder. This fix is only temporary and because of that, the individual needs the constant medication that alcohol offers, which leads to abuse. It is in this way that someone diagnosed with bipolar disorder, who has no prior history of a drinking problem can develop one.