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Substance Abuse and Depression
Alcohol while taking antidepressants?
Mixture of alcohol and antidepressants can create a number of problems. These are:
- Antidepressants may make you especially
susceptible to the intoxicating effects of alcohol.
- If you
drink more than three or four drinks a week, the effects of alcohol
may prevent the antidepressants from working.
- You may be taking along
with the antidepressant a drug such as clonazepan (Klonopin) with
which one should not drink at all.
If you are determined to drink despite taking antidepressants you
should discuss the matter with your psychiatrist. If you get
permission you might want to determine the extent to which the
medication has made you more sensitive to the alcohol. You might
start by seeing what are the effects of half a glass of wine. You
might then experiment with a full glass. Remember, a 4 oz glass of
wine, a 12 oz bottle of beer, and 1 oz of "hard stuff" all contain
the same amount of alcohol.
Depression and recovery from
substance abuse
It is not unusual for people who have recently been withdrawn from
alcohol, or other abusable drugs to become depressed. These
depressions are often self-limited, and clear in about 8-weeks. If
depression has not cleared by the end of that period, anti-depressant
therapy should be started.
Dual-Diagnosis
Dual-diagnosis is a phrase used to indicate the combination of
substance abuse and a psychiatric disorder. A path to alcohol or
other substance abuse is an attempt to self- medicate uncomfortable
symptoms such as depression, anxiety, agitation or feelings of
emptiness. The psychiatric disorders that cause such symptoms are
often diagnosed in substance abusers.
People recovering from substance abuse can safely take many kinds of psychiatric drugs. Most psychiatric drugs are unable to be abused.
The best evidence for this is that there are not street markets for
such drugs. On the other hand, The benzodiazepines (diazepam
[Valium], lorazepam [Ativan], alprazolam [Xanax], etc.) and the
psycho-stimulants (dextroamphetamine [Dexedrine], methamphetamine
[Desoxyn], and Ritalin [methylphenidate]) are quite abusable.
Learn how to treat depression immediately and naturally!
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