As a public service, NEWS of the WORLD reprints The FUNNY STUFF FUNNIES, an educational comic book giving basic facts on drugs and alcohol. Each post reproduces a page from the booklet, which is aimed at young persons and which avoids sermonizing and excessive wordiness.
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This page does not give all the basic facts about mental illness. The purpose is to drop a few tips with respect to mental illness and chem abuse.
Discussed below are:
Depression
Two types of depression are classed as forms of mental illness.
They are sometimes called clinical depression and chronic depression. Or experts may refer to them as major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder, or dysthemia.
In clinical depression, the person feels overwhelmed by gloom that cannot be shaken off. That cheerless person can't do much of anything.
Adults with chronic depression stay way down in the dumps for two or more years. For teens and children, one year is sufficient to be diagnosed with chronic depression.
Alcoholics are twice as likely to have recently had a bout of severe depression than people without drinking problems. They are three times more likely to have been suffering from chronic depression than people without drinking problems. Women with depression seem to be particularly vulnerable to alcoholism.
Alcohol and chems make medical treatment much more difficult. Alcoholics who are able to quit drinking and stay stopped have a much better chance of recovery from depression. Many choose twelve-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, as a means of assisting their recovery.
Other chems, such as marijuana, are often used as a means of placating the anxiety associated with depression. In the long run, they don't work. They just tend to make things worse.
Bipolar disorder
People with bipolar disorder -- also known as manic-depressive illness -- are very likely to guzzle liquor or overuse other chems. Some two fifths of those with one type of bipolar (bipolar I) have or have had chem abuse disorders. About one fifth with another type (bipolar II) have or have had problems with chems.
Alcoholism and pot addiction rank high, followed by cocaine and downers. Doctors find it very hard to treat bipolar people who are in active addiction.
People with bipolar I have severe and lasting episodes of both depression and mania. Between these extremes, a patient may return to a baseline mood state, in which mania or depression is not wild but which still may not be wonderful.
Untreated bipolar I victims generally have periods of very severe depression lasting at least two weeks and at least one episode of mania that lasts at least a week or that requires hospitalization. Such persons find it hard to stay in a relationship or to keep a job. Some symptoms of the manic phase may be like those of schizophrenia (see below).
Untreated bipolar II victims have the same two-week bouts of severe depression, but they don't skyrocket into wild mania. Instead they get a temporary boost in energy and impulsivity, often performing tasks with extreme diligence. But the real value of their zealous activity is open to doubt.
Schizophrenia
In males, schizophrenia tends to strike those who are between 15 and 25 years old. In females, the age bracket is 20 to 35, with another surge occurring in older women whose estrogen levels have dropped.
Symptoms include poor social skills, dulled outward emotion, lack of motivation and reasoning. Other symptoms are hearing things others don't and paranoia -- the unjustified fear that you are a target of organized harassment. (Donald Trump was not paranoid; he was such a target.)
Studies show that chems and alcohol are heavily used by people with schizophrenia, which afflicts about one in a hundred people. Close to half of schizophrenic patients have or have had serious drinking or chem problems. More than 80 percent used alcohol or pot to excess. They used cocaine at a rate three times higher than everybody else. Drinking and drugging don't yield good results for these people. Medical treatment doesn't work well, with the risk going up of violent behavior, suicide or landing back on a psyche ward.
Borderline personality disorder
Don't let the word "borderline" fool you. This mental illness can be quite severe.
People with borderline personality disorder are very likely to abuse chems, including alcohol. One study found that 78 percent of people with BPU were likely to overuse alcohol and chems.
People with BPU are highly impulsive to the point of recklessness, and that problem only gets worse if they are addicts or abusers of chems.
BPU victims have great difficulty managing their emotions, which is probably why so many seek relief from chems. They blow hot and cold toward themselves and toward others. They tend to be all-or-nothing types. Fear of abandonment is often an issue.
Doctors find it very hard to treat BPU patients who are using alcohol or illicit chems.
A typical case is given by researchers:
Discussed below are:
DepressionPeople with mental illnesses often use street chems and alcohol rather excessively. A person with a mental illness may find a spell of temporary relief, but it is frequently the case that mental illness symptoms worsen with usage.
Bipolar disorder
Schizophrenia
Borderline personality disorder
Depression
Two types of depression are classed as forms of mental illness.
They are sometimes called clinical depression and chronic depression. Or experts may refer to them as major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder, or dysthemia.
In clinical depression, the person feels overwhelmed by gloom that cannot be shaken off. That cheerless person can't do much of anything.
Adults with chronic depression stay way down in the dumps for two or more years. For teens and children, one year is sufficient to be diagnosed with chronic depression.
Alcoholics are twice as likely to have recently had a bout of severe depression than people without drinking problems. They are three times more likely to have been suffering from chronic depression than people without drinking problems. Women with depression seem to be particularly vulnerable to alcoholism.
Alcohol and chems make medical treatment much more difficult. Alcoholics who are able to quit drinking and stay stopped have a much better chance of recovery from depression. Many choose twelve-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, as a means of assisting their recovery.
Other chems, such as marijuana, are often used as a means of placating the anxiety associated with depression. In the long run, they don't work. They just tend to make things worse.
Bipolar disorder
People with bipolar disorder -- also known as manic-depressive illness -- are very likely to guzzle liquor or overuse other chems. Some two fifths of those with one type of bipolar (bipolar I) have or have had chem abuse disorders. About one fifth with another type (bipolar II) have or have had problems with chems.
Alcoholism and pot addiction rank high, followed by cocaine and downers. Doctors find it very hard to treat bipolar people who are in active addiction.
People with bipolar I have severe and lasting episodes of both depression and mania. Between these extremes, a patient may return to a baseline mood state, in which mania or depression is not wild but which still may not be wonderful.
Untreated bipolar I victims generally have periods of very severe depression lasting at least two weeks and at least one episode of mania that lasts at least a week or that requires hospitalization. Such persons find it hard to stay in a relationship or to keep a job. Some symptoms of the manic phase may be like those of schizophrenia (see below).
Untreated bipolar II victims have the same two-week bouts of severe depression, but they don't skyrocket into wild mania. Instead they get a temporary boost in energy and impulsivity, often performing tasks with extreme diligence. But the real value of their zealous activity is open to doubt.
Schizophrenia
In males, schizophrenia tends to strike those who are between 15 and 25 years old. In females, the age bracket is 20 to 35, with another surge occurring in older women whose estrogen levels have dropped.
Symptoms include poor social skills, dulled outward emotion, lack of motivation and reasoning. Other symptoms are hearing things others don't and paranoia -- the unjustified fear that you are a target of organized harassment. (Donald Trump was not paranoid; he was such a target.)
Studies show that chems and alcohol are heavily used by people with schizophrenia, which afflicts about one in a hundred people. Close to half of schizophrenic patients have or have had serious drinking or chem problems. More than 80 percent used alcohol or pot to excess. They used cocaine at a rate three times higher than everybody else. Drinking and drugging don't yield good results for these people. Medical treatment doesn't work well, with the risk going up of violent behavior, suicide or landing back on a psyche ward.
Borderline personality disorder
Don't let the word "borderline" fool you. This mental illness can be quite severe.
People with borderline personality disorder are very likely to abuse chems, including alcohol. One study found that 78 percent of people with BPU were likely to overuse alcohol and chems.
People with BPU are highly impulsive to the point of recklessness, and that problem only gets worse if they are addicts or abusers of chems.
BPU victims have great difficulty managing their emotions, which is probably why so many seek relief from chems. They blow hot and cold toward themselves and toward others. They tend to be all-or-nothing types. Fear of abandonment is often an issue.
Doctors find it very hard to treat BPU patients who are using alcohol or illicit chems.
A typical case is given by researchers:
A 27-year-old woman was seen by doctors for cutting and burning herself daily. She wanted to relieve tension with self-punishment. She had also been drinking heavily and using heroin, benzos and pot. Her times of being "clean and sober" were cut short by family conflicts and strong cravings. She has been almost impossible to treat, with treatment ended either by her or the institution. She thinks a lot about suicide, and has tried to kill herself four times since age 14.
The author of The Funny Stuff Funnies takes sole responsibility for the content of this e-booklet. This booklet has not been sponsored, either directly or indirectly, by any government or non-government organization or fellowship, such as AA or NA.
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