A classic question that is applied to a variety of situations – which came first? Sometimes the question can be answered with science, sometimes not. Some research that came out this week was able to shed some light on one of these questions – do those with anxiety self-medicate because they are substance abusers, or do those with anxiety become substance abusers because they self-medicate? At first this might seem a weird question to ask – does it really matter which came first when you are talking about people with anxiety that have substance abuse problems? The simple answer is yes, it matters.
The correlation between substance abuse problems and anxiety is a strong one. There has been ongoing research looking at cause and effect. In 2006 an article discussed the relationship between those with anxiety self-medicating and having an increased chance of co-morbid disorders, while a 2007 an article discussed the an association between alcohol use and increased likelihood of a mental health diagnosis.
But whether or not those who self-medicate are substance abusers or become substance abusers can make a difference in treatment approaches and prevention strategies. That is the reason this new research matters.
The objective of the new research, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, was to see if it could answer the ‘which comes first’ question. The research took place in the US and had nearly 35,000 participants. Reuters posted a great summary of the research, but the general idea is that those who self-medicate to calm down their anxiety are at risk for having a substance abuse disorder in the future. While the research is a first step, the thinking is that someone may self-medicate their anxiety but that does not mean they are an addict. It does mean they are at high risk to became an addict, so steps can be taken to help ensure that does not happen. Treating the anxiety could be the most effective means or addressing this, since the research also showed that those who stayed on their medications had a lower risk of substance abuse problems.