Depression and Drug Addiction

Depression and drug addiction have a powerful connection, in that depression is being recognized more and more as a physical pain. Addicts frequently turn to pills such as prescription pain pills to self-medicate that pain.

According to Joshua Lyon, author of the book Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict, a study was done in the early 1990's using Buprenorphine, a medication normally used to treat opiate addiction, to treat depression. The improvements, according to the study, were striking.

Could Depression
Lead to Addiction?

Lyon also interviewed Dr. Carol Boyd, a research scientist with the Substance Abuse Research Center. She found that patients who were already on some type of medication for depression were less likely to abuse opiates.

It's a powerful indicator that depression and drug addiction are often linked, and that without intervention, one could lead to the other.

How the Two Could be Connected

In the human brain, messages are passed between nerve cells by the synapse, which is a small gap between the cells. The cells release information by sending out neurotransmitters. The theory is that depression happens when other cells aren't sufficiently stimulated to take up those messages. Plus, typically some of these neurotransmitters are burned off in the process.

Opiates help prevent those neurotransmitters from being burned off, which means there are more neurotransmitters flooding the cells, which in turns means less depression.

The Problem with Treating
Depression with Opiates

Of course, the problem with using opiates to self-medicate depression is the addictive nature of the drug. Once the effect of the drug wears off, the user becomes even more depressed, requiring even more of the drug to stave off that depression.

Treating Depression with Drugs

Prescriptions designed to treat depression also carry dangers, including suicidal behavior if the user quits taking the drug. Considering the risks involved, it might be wiser to treat the depression with more natural means, such as exercise and holistic treatments before turning to psychotherapy and drugs.

Return from Depression and Drug Addiction to the Home Page

Free Ezine

We'll let you know about the latest happenings in treatments for drug addiction, effects of different drugs and where you can go to get help. In the future we'll also have real life drug addiction stories and how others are getting off drugs. This ezine is your source for what's going on with surviving drug addiction.

Learn More.