Self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorder
[This is the second part of a series that explores the relationship between mental illnesses and substance abuse a means of self-medicating the illness.} The theory that some people with mental health issues use substances for the purpose of finding relief from those issues is not new. An article titled The Self-medication Hypothesis of Substance Use Disorders: A Reconsideration and Recent Applications, by psychiatrist Edward J. Khantzian, published in 1997, wrote that: “Persons with substance use disorders suffer in the extreme with their feelings, either being overwhelmed with ...