Addiction

[AcheyMom]

I am curious how common substance abuse is among people with BPD.  How many here have children that have BPD and substance use disorder.

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[Tulipps]

I think comorbidities are common. My daughter was prescribed Dexedrine for ADHD in her first year of university and had an addiction for many years while dabbling in other drugs. She also had/has an eating disorder.

[Leaf56]

My son never drank, smoked weed, or tried other drugs until college. He says he hated alcohol but immediately loved weed. He has smoked it daily for the past 4 years and says he's unable to quit. He says he smokes it to deal with the anger he feels. He also says he did acid several times between 2019 and 2021. He believes those "trips" revealed the truth of the universe to him, and he has been unable to move on from that perception (reminds me of George Harrison). He says he has not tried harder drugs and that he's afraid that if he ever tried heroin he'd be addicted immediately. He was prescribed Zoloft and long-acting Adderall in high school and college but didn't abuse them. From what I've read on this site, there is quite a correlation between addiction to weed and those with BPD. I ran a poll about it. Not many responses though:

https://bpdfamily.com/message_board/index.php?topic=350302.msg13150903#msg13150903

[kells76]

Hi AcheyMom;

I am curious how common substance abuse is among people with BPD.

My H's kids' mom seems to have a "hot and cold" relationship with smoking (tobacco) -- she either doesn't smoke at all, or rapidly smokes what must be a pack a day (yo-yo weight loss). I have heard that she uses pot and also that she gets drunk. She is in her mid-40s.

There are members on this board whose SO's seem to be "straight edge" -- no smoking, no drinking, no drugs. Those members' SOs, besides the obvious dealing with BPD, may have another non-substance outlet, like food addiction.

I wonder if it's a generational thing, in that for the current generation of young adults wBPD, drugs are much more broadly available, easy to get, destigmatized, and more potent than in the past?

Does your daughter have a diagnosis of substance use disorder? If so, is she accepting of it? Or is it more that all the pieces line up for her having SUD, even without an "official" diagnosis?

[AcheyMom]

I wonder if it's a generational thing, in that for the current generation of young adults wBPD, drugs are much more broadly available, easy to get, destigmatized, and more potent than in the past?

Does your daughter have a diagnosis of substance use disorder? If so, is she accepting of it? Or is it more that all the pieces line up for her having SUD, even without an "official" diagnosis?

I do believe it is far more common among the younger folks.  Weed was legalized for recreational use where I live so it’s literally everywhere and people minimize the harm IMO.

My daughter does have a diagnosis of substance use disorder and has been to rehab twice.  She also has Bipolar Disorder.  She likely uses to self medicate.

[StepMothering]

My SD is a substance abuser.
Let's start with prescribed drugs because abuse can happen with this too.
Her psychiatrist has her on Seroquel, Lithium, Lexapro, Klonopin and most recently added Adderall. Until about 2 months ago she had her subsidizing with Xanax but when she took an entire bottle the prescriptions stopped for that one. She has been abusing Xanax for years though mostly purchased illegally.  She has been in the midst of an episode recently & has been taking too many Klonopin. She does know that her psychiatrist will not provide her with extra medication if she tries to subsidize.

As far as illegal drugs, she uses nitrous oxide (can buy at any head shop) and in the past ketamine. She also adds Delta 8 which is legal in our state. Recently, she bought some CBD/THC (1mg) edibles (not legal in our state).

She has had 3 sessions with the newest psychologist which made her sign a commitment to not use drugs or attempt suicide, so this isn't piece going so well.