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Ian Cavanaugh

Professor Dunham

English 1201

19 March 2019

Research Essay

There are so many epidemics happening in our world such as water issues, murder

rates skyrocketing, racial issues, and many more. However, the highest epidemics with their

ever increasing rates are mental illness and drug abuse. Many people believe these two

problems should be kept separate and think they are not connected. However, that belief

could not be so far from the truth. Our society has many issues with these two epidemics and

no one believes them to be connected. However, scientists and researchers over the last

several years have found concrete evidence how they are connected. Therefore, with this

information, mental illness leads to and is connected to drug abuse.

My generation is the generation of this epidemic and that is nothing to be proud of.

There have been many scientific research studies showing these two topics are related.

Throughout the years, researchers and scientists have been searching for the correlation

between drug abuse and mental health being genetically linked to each other. They are linked

because whenever someone is going through mental health issues, the person will sometimes

abuse drugs to numb the pain of their problems. Whenever someone has been diagnosed with

a mental illness, they have abused some type of drug or alcohol and vise versa. Furthermore,

if someone is considered a drug addict, they will be tested for mental illness, and most of the

time they have some sort of a mental illness diagnosis. Also, researchers are finding it is a

genetically linked problem, so someone born with the illness and the drug abuse problem

will be a risk until they get treatment for the mental illness they currently have. As time goes
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by with this epidemic, it gets harder and harder to treat both. For this reason, that is why we

need to open the world’s eyes and get those affected with both the help they desperately need.

The main reason mental illness and drug abuse are big issues involves how rapidly the

epidemic is taking over our communities, families, and slowly the country. From seeing the

illnesses first hand in my family and taking complete control of someone, these two topics

must be discussed together. Researchers and scientists are finding these two are genetically

connected. Therefore, family members are predisposed by other family members and are born

with the mental illness and predisposition to drug abuse and self medication until identified

and treated. More research shows if someone is more likely to have a mental illness, they are

more likely to use and abuse drugs and alcohol for periods of time in their lives if left

untreated. This is important because if mental illness, like depression or anxiety, has affected

a family member or relative, another one has a higher risk of the illnesses. Thus, having a

mental issue does put the affected person at risk to abuse other drugs, alcohol, and other

addictive substances. Therefore, there definitely is a much higher risk of someone who has a

clinically diagnosed mental illness case in their family to be more likely to be at risk of drug

abuse and drug misuse.

More and more studies are showing some disorders are inherited from different

cultures. Humans are able to get these disorders from different cultures because of new

technology and the drug trade. In fact, some disorders can come from other cultures from the

new drugs that are imported into the United States. This information shows it is very possible
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for us to inherit these disorders from countries we do not even think about.

One of the biggest debates on this topic currently is whether to put the mentally ill in

prison or to help them out by putting them into a mental institution. Research has found that

these two topics go hand in hand and cannot be separated. With that being said, people with

mental illness do not need to be in prisons. Substances are being used to eliminate the mental

pain resulting for these illnesses. For example, “We cannot decouple these two health needs

when delivering care. But the justice system-first response to both of these issues intensifies

the problem. In jail, those with mental illness and substance abuse are separated from their

communities and family support systems, saddled with criminal records, and too often

deprived of services that would help them live full lives. The justice system has a limited

ability to effectively and holistically treat people because the kind of care it delivers is

determined by legal and punitive decisions, not clinical needs”(Brumsey, Davis). Therefore,

the prison system is not meant to help the mentally ill, it is meant to punish them for what

they have or have not done.

High death rates are a common result from those with mental illnesses and who abuse

drugs. This is a big problem in our country because whenever someone is depressed,

schizophrenic, abuses drugs, etc., they never state they are in pain. Therefore, this leads to
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increased depression, and sometimes those affected will take the most extreme measure to

end the pain. For example, abusing drugs in the mentally ill person causes nothing but

problems for the affected. Most of the patients do not want to be involved in any treatment

because it is much too long and strenuous. They have to face their fears and problems from

their mental illness. As doctors try to diagnose the patients, it takes time to separate from the

drug abuse problems affecting the mental illness. Furthermore, many of those affected

struggle getting any support at home, and they may not find any help or support in a local

residence for substance abusers or other rehab facilities. This reflects how many changes the

mentally ill endure throughout the process of healing. However, some of the ill and drug

abusers survive the treatment and do not commit suicide.

Mental illness and drug abuse problems do not only affect the person going through it.

Most family members go through so much emotional pain and sadness watching their loved

one affected by mental illness and drug abuse. Many families lose their relationship

completely with the affected member. Many families who experience these struggles do not

know how to help the person and do not know the signs of when to get help for that person.

Sometimes family members think mental illness and drug/substance abuse are not connected,

so they try to treat one at a time. Any help is better than none, but overall, they need to know

the signs and to get their loved one the help they need. For example, many years ago,

researchers and physicians saw cases of substance use and drug abuse issues and treated it as

only that. There was no connection or exploration into there being a mental illness connection

behind the abuse of the drugs. The mental side was not explored at all because the connection

of the two was not noticed. However, that is not the case today as the mental side and drug

abuse are treated together for the patient seeking assistance. It shows there is a connection

and there is hope. Doctors, researchers, and scientists need to figure out, through tests, what

to treat first.
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Each year, many Americans die from drug overdoses and commit suicide. The

Americans taking their life in suicide each and every day are not committing this horrific act

because they are just sad, as many people say. Over half of the suicide deaths involve

mentally ill people using drugs and alcohol. For example, “The incidence of abuse is greater

among males and those in the age bracket of 18 to 44. People with mental illnesses may

abuse drugs covertly without their families knowing it. It is now reported that both families of

mentally ill relatives and mental health professionals underestimate the amount of drug

dependency among people in their care. There may be several reasons for this. It may be

difficult to separate the behaviors due to mental illness from those due to drugs”(Hatfield).

Most of these cases are connected and now whenever there is a mental illness or drug abuse

case, health professionals and researchers check their connections to see what to treat first.

To get help for someone with these issues, many think rehab or inpatient

rehabilitation centers. These facilities across the country give the best medical care and are

much more effective than the mentally ill drug abuser trying to heal or treat himself/herself.

For some people, rehabilitation center costs are not much, but to someone who has spent all

of their money on these drugs and have a low income family, there is no way to pay for the

help. Rehabilitation centers are not cheap. Many of the rehabilitation facilities available can

cost thousands of dollars for a month long stay. Furthermore, more prominent facilities can

cost up to several thousand dollars a day for treatment. If a loved one affected with mental

illness and drug abuse and addiction need lengthier stays for more intense help, these are

even pricier. From these high prices, a drug addict or someone who is mentally ill cannot

afford the treatment and help because of the vicious cycle of their addictions. They spend all

of the money they earn on the drugs and alcohol so they are broke.

For a person affected with both diseases, rehabilitation centers may not be as

expensive as his or her addiction issues. Since many problems arise from those affected, such
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as being out of work and the price of the their drug or drugs of choice, this gets very

expensive for the abuser. Also, the affected person might be battling and paying for lawyer,

court costs, and medical problems from past hospital or emergency problems. All of these

add up and cost a lot of money for the mentally ill and addict. For many people experiencing

the epidemic, they have no money or any money they have goes toward their addiction.

However, if the mentally ill addict has a family willing to pay these high prices for the best

help, they will get the help they need and will heal. Everything is based on what type of

treatment center a loved one benefits from the most. The costs of various types of programs

from outpatient to inpatient is very expensive. These have skyrocketed because hospital stays

and medical care is very expensive, too. The cost of these centers varies depending on the

state, location, and how long the patient needs for treatment for both mental illness and their

addiction problems. Some people need to be moved out of where they are and into a new area

to start brand new, these are the most expensive but the highest ranking success rates.

The biggest risk to someone who is clinically diagnosed with a mental illness is not

believing it could be connected to drug abuse. Most people who have an illness have used

drugs before. This is called “Dual Diagnosis”, which portrays a direct connection between

drug abuse and mental illness. Through all of the data researchers have found that almost

every mental health patient used or abused some type of drug or alcohol. For example,

“While the picture regarding dual diagnosis has not been very positive at this point, there are

now signs that the problem is being recognized and there is an increasing number of

programs trying to address the treatment needs of people with both problems. Research

studies are beginning to help us understand the scope of the problem. It is now generally

agreed that as much as 50 percent of the mentally ill population also has a substance abuse

problem. The drug most commonly used is alcohol, followed by marijuana and cocaine.

Prescription drugs such as tranquilizers and sleeping medicines may also be

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abused”(Hatfield). The data and information show how necessary it is to teach others the

danger signs and when to help act on them.

Furthermore, the topic of mental illness and drug abuse has not always been

considered a huge epidemic. Many of the current mental illnesses were not even considered

sicknesses years ago. Furthermore, if someone was mentally ill, they were classified as

“insane” or “retarded”. No one thought to research the brain and mental state; it was only

someone's physical state. Just because one cannot see health issues of the mental side, does

not mean that it is does not exist. In the late 1930s, a new way of “treating” mental illness

was a new kind of therapy called “shock therapy.” Scientists thought inducing a seizure on a

patient would relieve them of their mental illness. No one knew about the horrors inflicted on

the person; they did not have the technology to realize they were not helping but killing them

slowly. In 1975, a movie called One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest showed the world how

patients in mental institutions were really being treated. The movie was based in the 1950s,

after everything about electric shock therapy was released and how patients were being

treated. It was very controversial and made a huge impact exposing how treatment centers

took care of mentally ill patients. This exposure had the biggest impact on the world. It was

dangerous and inhumane. Thankfully, we have changed the ways we treat the mentally ill,

but those from shock therapy were affected by it for the rest of their lives.

In the past, physicians treated each issue separately, as if they did not interact. Over

the last several decades, researchers have began looking at the ways mental illness and

substance abuse and addiction could and should be diagnosed together. Furthermore,

treatment options for both together should be considered, too. This shows that there always

has been a thought of these being connected all along, people were just blind to it before the

technology we have and what we know now. There have been multiple surveys showing that

more there is a connection between mental illness and drug abuse, since those who have a
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mental illness have said they used drugs and alcohol. “In the past, medical professionals

usually only identified and treated one issue, and left the other unacknowledged. This

practice caused problems for people suffering from co-occurring disorders, since addiction

and mental health issues often influence each other. Treating only one disorder frequently

results in the untreated disorder growing much worse as well as negatively influencing the

treated disorder.”(FoundationRecoveryNetwork) From this research we know that these are

connected and always have been.

Some say these diseases are not real and are just excuses for someone to get away

with a crime committed. This is true, there are criminals with nothing clinically wrong trying

to get out of trouble. Recently, there have been shootings where the shooter pleads mentally

insane so they can get a lighter sentence and not go to jail. Since there is talk about how the

two are not connected, some will indeed blame their drug addiction and drug abuse on their

claimed mental illness. Also, addicts and the idea of addiction may not be considered a

choice that those affected make with drug abuse. However, many regular choices and choice

processes might and can head them into addiction without a mental illness diagnosis.

Therefore, the mentally insane claim by drug users in a crime situation or court proceedings

tends to be abused and overused at times today. With a strong lawyer, and proper quick

diagnosis, a criminal drug abuse can get the lower conviction they desire. This explains how

everything in life is a choice including what drugs we take and if we are depressed. Also, he

states most of the surveys on drug abuse and addiction show when most addicts choose to end

their addiction, it is a decision based on their own mental choice.

Even though there are valid points to the other side of mental illness not being

connected to drug abuse, there is much more information showing the two are connected.

Again, persons experimenting and abusing drugs are also experiencing mental health issues at

the same time such as depression, anxiety, etc. Researchers and physicians continue to watch
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the increase of both illnesses and their connections, especially in teenagers. There are not as

many studies on teens, but mental illness does lead to and is connected to drug abuse The

research found shows a high percentage when a person has a mental illness, they will have a

substance abuse issue and mental health problem connected, too. Due to new information, the

world is realizing mental illness, abuse and addiction are connected. There are more places to

find the help people desperately need. Furthermore, the epidemic is becoming a social media

trend to speak up on the issue and tell people the signs to look for in a loved one.

In conclusion, those experiencing mental illness are more likely to abuse drugs and

alcohol falling into addiction. I personally lived through both at a young age with my older

brother, Zach. Immediately, my parents thought they were connected because he was

diagnosed with a mood disorder in the 8th grade. Once freshman year of high school began

for him, the depression overwhelmed his life. His depression and anxiety was not diagnosed

for two more year, but that summer, he started to abuse drugs and alcohol. He was the classic

case; he started drinking, which was not enough for him to numb the pain. Unfortunately for

our family, he started smoking marijuana which was still not enough, and then went to

cocaine and pills. We knew from there he needed help, but sending him to jail was not the

answer for my brother’s treatment in order to save his life. To get the help he needed, jail did

not have mental health professionals to assist in his recovery at the age of seventeen.

Therefore, my parents made the tough decision to send him to a rehabilitation facility for a

year in Texas. There he received help for his diagnosed mental illnesses and connected drug

abuse treatment. Thankfully, he is now 22 years old, alive, and doing well.
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Works Cited

● “Mental Illness Genetically Linked to Drug Use and Misuse.” US Official

News, 2016. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire

ct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.486906514&site=eds-live.

● “Getting the Mentally Ill Out of Jail and Off the Streets.” The New York

Times, The New York Times,

www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/05/09/getting-the-mentally-ill-out-of-

jail-and-off-the-streets/drug-addiction-cannot-be-decoupled-from-mental-

illness.

● “Addiction or Mental Illness: Which Should You Treat First?” The Fix, 28

Jan. 2019, www.thefix.com/addiction-or-mental-illness-which-should-you-

treat-first.

● “The Connection Between Mental Illness and Substance Abuse.” Dual

Diagnosis, www.dualdiagnosis.org/mental-health-and-addiction/the-

connection/.

● Loranger, A W. “The International Personality Disorder Examination. The

World Health Organization/Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health

Administration International Pilot Study of Personality Disorders.” Archives of

General Psychiatry, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Mar. 1994,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8122958.

● “The History of Addiction and Mental Health Treatment.” Foundations

Recovery Network, 8 Mar. 2019,

www.foundationsrecoverynetwork.com/history-addiction-mental-health-

treatment/.
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