Schizophrenia, Addiction, and Me

Research has found that a high number of people who are living with schizophrenia also struggle with addiction. This video discusses reasons why this may occur, substance use as a potential environmental trigger for schizophrenia, statistics on substance use, potential consequences of substance misuse, and treatment methods. The first part of this video focuses primarily on addiction as it pertains to alcohol and drug use. However, addiction can span far beyond these. An addiction is really any form of coping mechanism (typically maladaptive) an individual relies on and essentially obsesses over, or that becomes a focal point in their life. As someone living with schizoaffective disorder, I have fallen into maladaptive addictions as a means of coping with my illness, and I also share my experiences with addiction.