Addiction is a symptom of disease. The U.S. experienced a 16.3 percent increase in the number of drug overdose deaths from June 2016 to June 2017, according to the Centers of Disease Control. Controversies about drug addiction have polarized the world’s view on addiction being seen as a conscious decision or as a involuntary disease. However, drug addiction is a possible outcome when mental illness is not coped with in healthy ways.

One can make a conscious decision to use an addictive substance, then as a result, form a physical addiction they have no control over. This is often the result of what’s referred to as self medication. The term self-medicating is used when substances, drugs or alcohol, are abused to mask symptoms of a mental health issue,” according to an article published by the American Addictions Center website.

When dealing with a mental illness and its side effects, it’s possible one can choose to deal with mental illness in an unhealthy way, such as looking to drugs as a possible coping mechanism. In many scenarios, individuals struggle with an illness they didn’t ask for, then choose to deal with their illness by consuming harmful substances that can manifest into uncontrollable addictions.

Having a mental illness increases a person’s chances of forming an addiction as “mood disorders increase vulnerability to drug abuse and addiction, the diagnosis and treatment of the mood disorder can reduce the risk of subsequent drug use,” according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. This means that pre-existing mental illness can lead those who suffer from it toward forming an addiction. However, by treating the disorder, it can help with recovery and overcoming substance addiction.

The existence of two simultaneous chronic diseases is formally referred to as comorbidity. There is a “high prevalence of comorbidity between drug use disorders and other mental illnesses… [this] does not mean that one caused the other, even if one appeared first. In fact, establishing causality or directionality is difficult for several reasons,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Doctors may over-prescribe medications that are known to be addictive, such as Xanax, Valium or opiates in general. Even when choosing to avoid drugs that aren’t prescribed by a professional, “mental illness can lead to addiction with irresponsible treatment from doctors,” said Mat Sewruk, senior statistics major.

At the end of the day, it is important to realize drug addiction is not a sustainable or healthy way of coping with mental illness or the stress of everyday life. Addiction is a “coping mechanism for emotional withdrawal,” said Isaac Ekbert, operations management and information systems major. Ekbert believes that it can be a result of “not having a strong emotional outlet in everyday life.” Even those not dealing with mental disorders can develop an addiction. Remember to treat those affected with respect and to not merely look down and guilt sufferers of addiction, as they are dealing with more than drug usage.