I have known hundreds of people who are bi-polar and who at the early on-set of the mental illness, find that they can "treat" their ups and down by using alcohol.
Then, they become addicted to the alcohol, and they have 2 things going against them: Bi-polar disease and alcoholism.
yep, a friend of mines ex wife is like that. She is bipolar and treats herself with alcohol. It got so bad her liver is permantly damamged and if she ever drinks alcohol again she will likely die.
That's what my husband did! He got sober six years ago and just got diagnosed this year with bp.
This post taught me more about it than anything I've read so far. Down to earth info, not the usual lofty descriptions and phrases from web sites.
Thanks