Comorbidity between drug addiction and other mental disorders

Know the comorbidity between drug addiction and other mental disorders.

The term comorbidity o associated morbidity is used to designate the diagnosis according to which the same person suffers from two or more disorders or diseases.

These disorders can occur simultaneously or in a chained manner. Comorbidity has the characteristic of indicating an interaction between the two (or more than two) pathologies, which can worsen the prognosis of both.

Drug addiction and associated psychopathologies

When we talk about drug addiction, we must be clear that itself is classified as a mental illnessIt interrupts and alters the normal categorization of needs and desires, replacing them with new priorities linked to the acquisition and consumption of psychotropic drugs.

Compulsive behaviors undermine the ability to control impulses, leading to a progressive degradation in the interaction with the environment. This picture corresponds to a common symptomatology in psychopathologies.

A large number of drug addicts are also diagnosed with other mental illnesses, and vice versa.. Without going any further, drug addicts are twice as likely to suffer from pathologies associated with their mood or of an anxious type, which also occurs in the opposite direction.

But why is there this marked comorbidity? But why is there this marked comorbidity between drug dependence and mental disorder? Although drug addiction disorders occur concurrently with other psychopathologies, this does not mean that one causes the other, even though one may appear before and the other after. Indeed, it is often difficult to determine which of the disorders emerged first and why. However, studies indicate the following points as reasons why it is common for these diseases to present comorbidly:

• Drug dependence often causes the symptoms of another psychopathology. For example, Some cannabis smokers with certain underlying vulnerabilities may be at increased risk of developing psychotic conditions..

• Mental illness can lead to drug use, probably as a form of self-medication. People suffering from anxiety or depression are more likely to use alcohol, Smoking or other drugs or psychotropic drugs that may temporarily alleviate their symptoms.

Risk factors among drug addicts

These psychopathologies can also be explained by shared risk factors, such as:

• The addition of genetic vulnerabilities. Some genetic predispositions may increase susceptibility to both drug addiction and other psychopathology, or may have an increased risk for the second pathology once the first has appeared.

• The addition of risk factors in the environment. Stress, substance use at a young age or childhood and adolescent trauma can lead to drug addiction, which in turn can lead to other mental disorders.

• The activation of similar brain areas. For example, brain systems that are activated during gratification or stress are altered by substance use and may show abnormalities in people with certain psychopathologies.

• Substance abuse pathologies and other mental disorders are developmental disorders. They usually appear during adolescence or even during puberty, just in the periods in which the brain and nervous system undergo abrupt changes due to their development. The consumption of drugs in this vital stage can modify the brain structures in such a way that the risk of suffering from psychopathologies will be greater in the future. Thus, when there is an early symptomatology of mental illness it is usually linked to a higher risk of drug addiction in the future.

Studies carried out in the Community of Madrid between 2006 and 2008 indicated that the concurrence of drug dependence disorders with mental illness occurred mainly in men (80%), with an average age of 37 years.with an average age of 37 years, single (58%) with primary school education (46%).

The most common mental illnesses in these individuals are personality disorders, suicide risk, hypomanic episodes, anxious disorders and major depression.

Cocaine (63%), alcohol (61%) and cannabis (23%) were the most reported drugs.

Bibliographic references:

• Beck, A., Newman, C. and Wright, F. (1999), Terapia cognitiva de las drogodependencias. Barcelona: Paidós.
• Cuatrocchi, E. (2009), Drug addiction. Its recovery in a therapeutic community. Madrid: Espacio Editorial.
• García, J. (2008), Estudio epidemiológico para determinar la prevalencia, diagnóstico y actitud terapéutica de la patología dual en la Comunidad de Madrid. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine (UAM).
• Tejero, A. and Trujols, J. (2003). Clinical instruments for the evaluation of cocaine dependence. Barcelona: Ars Médica.