Self medicating depression

Why do people self-medicate? Should I start taking medication for depression? Is my low self esteem a symptom of depression? Depression is a complex and potentially devastating mental health disorder.

As a result, some people use drugs and alcohol in an attempt to numb the distressing symptoms that accompany the mental health disorder or to otherwise self -medicate its negative effects.

These disorders affect approximately million adults aged and older, which accounts for around of the population. But no one knows quite what is happening or why. Most people reach for alcohol, but prescription drugs and illegal drugs are used as well for the self -medication of depression. The rates of substance abuse among people with either depression or anxiety are as high as percent.

Substance use varies with past year unmet need for mental health care and mental health care use in ways consistent with the self -medication hypothesis. Gradually, those self - medicating will become trapped in their own solution. Individuals with depression , for instance, might turn to amphetamines due to their stimulating properties.

Or someone with severe anxiety might turn to alcohol, which has calming effects.

Sometimes self - medicating works out well. Many times, addiction begins with self -medication. It’s important to understand what self - medicating means and treat underlying issues early on.

Not only can doing so reduce the risks associated with addiction – it could save a life. It is a form of substance abuse that becomes a form of self -soothing when you feel stressed or anxious. This essentially explains how self-medicating with alcohol or drugs comes into play in this scenario.

An occasional drink or a mistaken double dose of a prescribed painkiller or smoking marijuana may have brought a temporary, but much-neede sense of escaping the depression or numbing the depressing thoughts. There are a variety of reasons why. Self-medicating depression can do more harm than good: it can detriment a person’s physical health, it can worsen a person’s mental health, and it can lead to chronic drug problems down the road.

Self - Medicating and Its Impact. In a questionnaire designed to evaluate self-medication rates amongst the population of Khartoum, Sudan, 48. This is risky because alcohol can worsen symptoms of depression , reduce the ability to take care of or connect to her child emotionally, and could potentially lead to situations where a child is neglected or abused. The term for that is self - medicating. I have suffered with depression and anxiety all my life, and used to self medicate through drug and alcohol use.

Unfortunately, the problems that follow the short-lived benefits of self - medicating are harder to notice. One of the most common problems is that we slowly but surely begin to depend on substances to cope with anxiety.

Treating Depression and Addiction. If you, or your loved one, are living with depression as well as an addiction to drugs or alcohol – whether due to self -medication attempts or not – it is important to seek treatment for both disorders at a program that offers treatment for co-occurring disorders. This dual focus on both disorders is the. Overtime self - medicating behavior can easily spiral into addiction.

The symptoms of depression make it not surprising that people suffering from this health condition will often use drugs or alcohol to self -medicate or numb the side effects of their mental illness. Instead it often just means trying to take drugs of various kinds in order to numb the symptoms – often by numbing the thoughts. Rickard I want you to imagine owning a car that has a leaky tire. When we “ self medicate”.

It may be a way that individuals struggling with depression try to care for themselves.