Substance abuse and mental illness are two separate conditions that can help advance one another; and both conditions thrive on college campuses.

“There’s definitely a connection between mental conditions and substance abuse,” said Bonita Lawhead, a chemical dependency professional with 11 years of experience.

When it comes to the chicken or the egg scenario, Lawhead said, mental conditions can come first or second, but about 50 percent of the cases she has witnessed deal with substance abuse and mental illness.

Cassandra Nichols, director of Counseling Services at WSU, said when it comes to anxiety and stress, the transition to college is a perfect storm for someone to develop a disorder that could be classified as a mental illness.

On top of that, Nichols said, “People are drinking more when they come to a university and they’re using a lot of weed.”

 “If there’s already a developing depression or anxiety disorder, using Cannabis or alcohol may seem OK in the short-term, but in the long-term, not so much,” Nichols said.

Nichols said binge drinking is one example of college life that can lead to drug and alcohol abuse after graduation.

“Those folks who have a family predisposition to drug and alcohol abuse problems and mood disorders are more likely to move on and have a drug and alcohol abuse problem,” Nichols said.

Ben Elger, a licensed master social worker and clinician in adult mental health for Health and Welfare, agreed that alcohol can amplify depression and anxiety.

Similar to Lawhead, Elger said in many of the cases he’s dealt with there is a co-diagnosis, meaning the patient suffers from both substance abuse and a mental illness.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, 50 percent of people that suffer from mental illness also suffer from substance abuse. Of those that suffer from substance abuse, 37 percent of alcoholics and 53 percent of drug addicts suffer from mental illness.

In many cases mental illness and substance abuse can mirror one another, Elger said.

Methamphetamine, for example, can induce mood changes and can mimic characteristics of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, he said.

It can sometimes be difficult to recognize the difference between drug abuse and mental illness in myriad situations.

Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said when police arrive at a scene one of the only ways they can determine substance abuse from some mental health issues is by asking the subject questions to find their sense of reality.

Tennant said the police may ask questions like, “who is the president of the United States?”

If someone is under the influence of marijuana or alcohol it can be smelt, but in the case of MDMA and similar substances, they are not easy to sense unless an officer talks to the individual and figures out if they’re rational, Tennant said.

While some drugs and mental illnesses mirror one another, some drugs can actually cause mental illness if they’re abused.

According to a study published online by the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry there is preliminary evidence that the chemical MDMA, found in ecstasy and the popular college drug “Molly,” can cause shrinking of the hippocampus in the brain by more than 10 percent.

This shrinking is also known as hippocampal atrophy, which results in severe memory loss similar to Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine can also result in seizures, psychotic symptoms and alter the brain’s functionality, which could also lead to mental illness.

Lawhead said anytime people abuse drugs they change their brain chemistry.

Prescription drugs, often given to help cope with a mental illness, run the additional risk of forming dependencies.

In instances when someone is dealing with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, insomnia and anxiety, the drugs Klonopin, Ambien, Seroquel, Xanax, Ritalin, Adderall and Valium are all used to help someone cope, according to SAMHSA.

However these same medications can cause a high and lead to substance abuse.

“It can go either way, it’s a complex issue,” Elger said.