Dual Diagnosis National Meeting Online 6/22/08

Welcome to the weekly dual diagnosis meeting online.

Our topic for June has been a discussion of how step one of Alcoholics Anonymous may help with recovery from dual diagnosis (bipolar with addiction/alcoholism/substance abuse).

My name is Jim, and I am dual diagnosed.

Please see last week's meeting:

http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/dual-diagnosis-discussions/ general-support/108102-dual-diagnosis-national-meeting- online-61508#108102

You can link back through all the previous meetings by going to last week's meeting.

In discussing how AA's step one may apply to dual diagnosis, you might also want to add the question "why?"--why step one applies. ...is there really some similarity between the mood swings and the mindset of bipolar versus addicition/alcoholism/substance abuse?

It's your meeting. See previous meetings for guidelines.

Thanks!

Jim

The main similarity is the mood swings, and that's what defines my bipolar disease.

...and it went a lot deeper with me.

I could also see how both diseases cranked up my mind--shot me up into the clouds feeling high and rocketed me into depression, when all that manic energy ran out.

I knew that the same personality traits and the same mindset went with both diseases--and my reactions to both diseases looked a lot the same too.

...excitement, rage, anger, fear, frustration, criticism, failure--it was all there.

I came to see and believe that, if the diseases looked so much alike, maybe a common approach to recovery might work equally for both. Of course, AA and NA had set the pattern for recovery--focusing on spiritual change and personality management--attitudes, beliefs, and reactions.

I wasn't the first to see that, but it seems like people like me had seen the similarities long before the general medical community could see it. And that's funny, isn't it?

...funny, because, for a century or more, both addicts/alcoholics and mentally ill people had been ending up in the same place. ...ending up in insane asylums, jails, and early graves!

Common behavior and common destinies, however, hadn't been enough to convince the medical community that both mental illness and addiction had the same footprint.

You and I knew, didn't we!?

Back to you. It's your meeting.

Thanks.

It is true that having mental illness and alcholism, in my case both have the same "footprint". The difference is that in the alcoholism I have the choice not to take a drink. Bipolar mood swings I have some control over in the fact that when manic I clean house and get a lot done. If the mania gets too high or I start to get delusional I have to stop and think. There is always a core of sanity in there somewhere which looks at what is going on around me...I cling to it and trust the judgment of others around me to evaluate my thinking.

So to answer the question why are there similarities??? Might be because the scientific method of trying to categorize illness by symptoms and treatments does not join the dual diagnosis. And treat it as one distinct problem. I have noticed a lot of people being treated for bipolar and still abusing drugs. When I was diagnosed there was no mention of alcohol use. Just treated for bipolar. Maybe combining the two into a separate distinction with it's own treatment protocol would be appropriate.

First I'd like to say that I don't like commiting yet to more than my job, in the way of volunteering to hold meetings. But Jim let me know if something comes up and I'll hopefully get right back with you. Sunday A.M. is bad for me. even then I may not be a regular attender. ?

For me step 1 meant quite a bit in my dual recovery. I was diagnosed bipolar sometime ago, but didn't fully realize why I was until a few months ago. In that sense I think I fully admitted at that time. Understanding and admitting are powerful tools at starting and maintaining healthy well founded recovery for me.

In my case I came to see that my bipolar was the main drive, the catalyst, to my using. I fine tuned my procedure; getting the right kind of beer, drinking the right amount before Pot, getting pot into me at the right time, continuing both (along with cigarettes-if that played any role at all) putting my mind to rest do I could sleep by finishing up with alcohol. WHAT A REVALATION THIS WAS TO ME WHEN I RERALIZED WHAT WAS GOING ON! And what a help, it explained in a way that I could admit and accept.

Admitting my bipolar(and other mental issues) allowed me to see myself and my problem as it truly was. You can clean away all the cobwebs you like but until you get rid of the SPIDER your work is to no avail!

Of equal importance in my case was finally coming to believe that my God, whom I choose to call by the name Jehovah, really could restore me to sanity. Mature ones in my congregation were quite tough on me but that meant to me that if I truly had faith in this arrangement and my faith, that I was being told that I could do it! I had lost hope and felt helpless at the time, but just like the chapter "to employers" in the AA big book, I felt this "was just the jolt I needed" for which I am very grateful. Tough and loving discipline in connection with my spirituality had already starting taking on the form of a sprirtual experience even then. Over the period of several months it dawned on me how both of these steps were instrumental in my recovery. My life had already been dedicated to Jehovah, but step 3 took on a magnified role in my life and my determination to retore my life was renewed as hope became brighter.

So, for me, as for countless others, steps 1-3 laid the foundation for a saner life.

FULL ADMISSION OF STEP 1 IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. Along with medication I can recover. (8months sober)

Love you all,

Jeff Davis