People with schizophrenia often experience hallucinations or delusions. Learn what role, if any, alcohol use has in causing schizophrenia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chronic and heavy alcohol use can be detrimental to a person\u2019s health. In rare cases, a person who continually consumes large amounts of alcohol may develop psychosis<\/a> related to their alcohol use. This development occurs when a person has hallucinations or delusions associated with alcohol use or following alcohol use. Hallucinations are when a person sees or hears something that is not there. Delusions occur when a person remembers something that didn\u2019t happen, but they believe it to be true. The hallucinations associated with alcohol use most often occur as the person hearing voices in their head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related Topic:<\/strong> Am I an Alcoholic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people may refer to alcohol-induced psychosis<\/a> as alcohol-induced schizophrenia since the symptoms of hearing voices in their head are similar to the symptoms of\u00a0schizophrenia<\/a>. However, schizophrenia and alcohol-induced psychosis are separate disorders. Even so, alcohol use disorders and schizophrenia can\u00a0co-occur<\/a>\u00a0in the same person, as one disorder may lead to the development of the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can alcohol abuse cause schizophrenia? This question is difficult to answer because the symptoms of alcohol-induced psychosis resemble those of schizophrenia. However, according to the criteria to diagnose schizophrenia<\/a> in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-V), the symptoms of schizophrenia can not be due to the use of a substance such as drugs or alcohol. Likewise, alcohol-induced psychosis is associated with heavy alcohol use and occurs in people with no prior history of mental health issues. In other words, alcohol-induced psychosis and schizophrenia are two different disorders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite their separate diagnosis, alcohol can have an impact on schizophrenia. Alcohol impacts neurotransmitters and signaling in the brain, which is what causes a person to feel drunk. When alcohol is used chronically, it can have detrimental effects on the brain, which is thought to be the reason for a person developing alcohol-induced psychosis. Few studies have been able to link alcohol with directly causing schizophrenia. However, a study in Denmark<\/a> found that those who had an alcohol use disorder were 3.38 times more likely to develop schizophrenia later in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Alcohol-induced psychosis and schizophrenia share similar symptoms, including experiencing hallucinations or delusions. In the case of alcohol-induced psychosis<\/a>, these symptoms are brought on by heavy alcohol use, whereas a person with schizophrenia will experience them in the absence of influential substances. Alcohol-induced psychosis can have additional symptoms such as changes in mood or behavior, high blood pressure, increased heart rate or fever. In some cases, auditory hallucinations can last even after alcohol use is stopped<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who have schizophrenia may also experience<\/a> confused speech, a stupor-like state or lack of motivation, all in the absence of alcohol. In order to be officially diagnosed by a medical professional, they will need to experience these symptoms for six months or more. In patients with schizophrenia, alcohol can affect their disorder, oftentimes making it worse<\/a> by intensifying the symptoms of schizophrenia. Additionally, people with schizophrenia are more likely<\/a> to abuse alcohol and display violent behavior<\/a> while drinking alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n When a person has a dual diagnosis of drug addiction and mental illness, it is important that they get the help they need to address both disorders. Treating one disorder without addressing the other can lead to a slow recovery and increase the chances of experiencing a setback into substance use or improper treatment of the mental health issue. Treatment for co-occurring disorders<\/a> requires an individualized treatment plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Recovery Village Palm Beach at Baptist Health is ready to help you address your alcohol use disorder along with any co-occurring mental health disorders. You deserve professional treatment, call The Recovery Village Palm Beach at Baptist Health<\/a> today.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People with schizophrenia often experience hallucinations or delusions. Learn what role, if any, alcohol use has in causing schizophrenia. Chronic and heavy alcohol use can be detrimental to a person\u2019s health. In rare cases, a person who continually consumes large amounts of alcohol may develop psychosis related to their alcohol use. This development occurs when a person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11601,"parent":697,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[16,39],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-2783","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alcohol","category-dual-diagnosis","tag-schizophrenia"],"acf":{"written_by":317,"enable_medically_and_up":["Yes"],"medically_reviewed_by":313,"medically_reviewed_content":"This article was reviewed by a medical professional to guarantee the delivery of accurate and up-to- date information. View our research policy.<\/a>","up_to_date":"Medically Reviewed by Trisha Sippel, PHD<\/a>","page_first_published_date":"20200815","page_last_edit_date":"20200815","highlighted_description":"If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, help is available. Speak with a Recovery Advocate by calling 888-648-0738<\/b><\/a> now.","key_takeaways":"","source":{"source_label":"View Sources","source_content":"Stankewicz, Holly A.; Salen, Philip. \u201cAlcohol Related Psychosis<\/a>.\u201d StatPearls Publishing, December 23, 2018. Accessed September 5, 2019.\r\n\r\nSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. \u201cImpact of the DSM-IV to DSM-5 Changes on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health<\/a>.\u201d June 2016. Accessed September 7. 2019.\r\n\r\nNielsen, S.M.; Toftdahl, N.G.; Nordentoft, M.; Hjorth\u00f8j, C. \u201cAssociation between alcohol, cannabis, and other illicit substance abuse and risk of developing schizophrenia: a nationwide population based register study.<\/a>\u201d Psychological Medicine, July 2017. Accessed September 7. 2019.\r\n\r\nBhat, Pookala S.; Ryali, VSSR; Srivastava, Kalpana; Kumar, Shashi R.; Prakash, Jyoti; Singal, Ankit. \u201cAlcoholic hallucinosis<\/a>.\u201d Industrial Psychiatry Journal, December 2012. Accessed September 5, 2019.\r\n\r\nDrake, Robert E.; Mueser, Kim T. \u201cCo-Occurring Alcohol Use\u00a0 Disorder and Schizophrenia<\/a>.\u201d Alcohol Research and Health, 2002. Accessed September 7, 2019.\r\n\r\nKhokhar, Jibran Y.; Dwiel, Lucas; Henricks, Angela; Doucette, Wilder T.; Green, Alan I. \u201cThe Link Between Schizophrenia and Substance Use Disorder: A Unifying Hypothesis<\/a>.\u201d Schizophrenia Research, April 2018. Accessed September 7, 2019."},"staff_member_heading":"Authorship","staff_member":[{"staff_member_title":"Editor","select_staff_member":317},{"staff_member_title":"Medical Reviewer","select_staff_member":313}],"insurance_label":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/2783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/2783\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/697"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff\/313"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff\/317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridarehab.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Does Alcohol Cause Schizophrenia?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Alcohol-Induced Psychosis and Schizophrenia Symptoms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n