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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It is not unusual for people who have recently been withdrawn from alcohol, or other abusable drugs to become depressed.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.

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