Living with bipolar disorder often means navigating extreme highs and lows in mood, energy, and behavior — especially if it’s left untreated. For many, alcohol can feel like a way to manage these swings, lifting spirits during depression, intensifying euphoria during mania, or calming anxiety when emotions feel overwhelming. This is one reason binge drinking is so common among people with the disorder.
The problem is that alcohol doesn’t just mask symptoms — it can also make them worse. Understanding why people with bipolar disorder are drawn to binge drinking can shed light on the challenges they face and highlight why drinking and bipolar disorder are such a risky combination.
In this post, we’ll look at the most common reasons people with bipolar disorder turn to alcohol, the dangers of combining the two, and how treatment can help when both conditions are present.
Common Reasons People With Bipolar Disorder Drink
There are several reasons why there’s such a strong relationship between bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder. Heightened mania or a sense of relaxation may explain why people with bipolar disorder binge drink, but the relief doesn’t last. While alcohol may provide temporary comfort, it can destabilize mood patterns in the long run and interfere with recovery.
1. Coping With Intense Mood Swings
During depressive episodes, alcohol may be used to temporarily numb feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or fatigue. In manic or hypomanic states, drinking can heighten the sense of euphoria, impulsivity, and risk-taking, making binges more likely.
Over time, this pattern can create a cycle where alcohol becomes a go-to response for both emotional highs and lows, making mood swings even harder to manage.
2. Self-Medication
It can be hard to live with the extremes in mood and energy levels that define bipolar disorder. Sometimes, drinking becomes a coping mechanism. When a person with bipolar disorder drinks alcohol, they often feel a sense of relief from the intensity of very high or very low emotions. Mood swings can make a person feel out of control, and alcohol may seem to help provide a sense of control — at least at first.
3. Temporary Relief From Depression
Alcohol has an impact on both mania and depression. For someone in a depressive episode, drinking may calm nervousness and anxiety or give a quick lift in mood. This temporary numbing effect can feel like an escape from sadness, hopelessness, or fatigue, which is why alcohol is so appealing in these moments.
4. Intensifying the Highs of Mania
People with bipolar disorder often enjoy the energy and exhilaration that come with manic or hypomanic states. Alcohol can intensify these feelings, making social interactions feel more exciting and impulsive decisions feel even more thrilling. For some, this is part of the appeal of binge drinking during mania, even though it can quickly lead to harmful outcomes.
5. Impulsivity + Risk-Taking
Bipolar disorder is linked with higher impulsivity, especially in manic or mixed states. That impulsivity can lower inhibitions around alcohol, leading to binge patterns instead of moderate use. When judgment is already impaired, drinking makes risky decisions — like reckless spending, unsafe sex, or dangerous driving — even more likely, which can result in long-term consequences that go beyond the night of drinking.
6. Social + Environmental Factors
Drinking may feel like a way to fit in socially, especially when mania increases sociability and drive for stimulation. Peer environments that encourage heavy drinking can intensify the risk. For some, alcohol becomes part of social identity, reinforcing the habit even when it worsens symptoms. Over time, this pressure to “go along” with social drinking can make it harder to recognize when alcohol is creating real harm.
7. Biological + Chemical Vulnerabilities
Research shows that people with bipolar disorder have a higher likelihood of developing substance use disorders in general. Shared genetic and neurochemical factors may make alcohol both more reinforcing and more harmful. This means the brain may respond more strongly to alcohol’s effects, creating a faster path to dependency. In people with bipolar disorder, this biological vulnerability makes alcohol use especially dangerous, as it can worsen mood instability and interfere with treatment.
Why Bipolar Disorder + Alcohol Shouldn’t Mix
Many individuals wonder whether alcohol can be used safely with bipolar disorder. While drinking may seem harmless in small amounts, alcohol interacts with the condition in ways that make symptoms harder to manage and recovery more difficult. It can also interfere with the medications most often used to stabilize mood. For these reasons, alcohol use is especially risky for people living with bipolar disorder.
High Risk of Developing a Substance Use Disorder
People with bipolar disorder are more vulnerable to substance abuse issues than the general population, and alcohol is one of the most common. What may begin as casual drinking can quickly become a way to cope with mood swings, often leading to dependence.
This can look like:
- Drinking to manage stress or emotional highs and lows
- Needing more alcohol over time to feel the same effect
- Struggling to cut back without withdrawal symptoms
Alcohol Can Increase the Severity of Symptoms
Alcohol affects brain chemistry in ways that overlap with bipolar disorder itself. Drinking can intensify sympoms of depression and mania, making episodes more severe.
This might include:
- Heightened irritability and impulsivity during mania
- Deeper sadness or hopelessness during depression
- Unpredictable shifts in mood after drinking
Alcohol + Medications Don’t Mix
Psychiatric medications are essential for stabilizing mood, but alcohol can reduce their effectiveness or create harmful side effects.
This often shows up as:
- Increased drowsiness or dizziness
- Reduced impact of mood-stabilizing medications
- Dangerous interactions that compromise safety
Sleep Disruption
Healthy sleep is critical in managing bipolar disorder, and alcohol directly interferes with it. Even small amounts can trigger instability.
Examples include:
- Restless nights or poor-quality sleep
- Interrupted sleep cycles that prevent deep rest
- Mood episodes triggered by ongoing sleep loss
Poor Judgment + Risky Behavior
Bipolar disorder already increases impulsivity, and alcohol lowers inhibitions even further. This combination often leads to high-risk choices.
It may lead to:
- Reckless spending during manic states
- Unsafe sexual behavior
- Driving under the influence or other dangerous actions
Higher Chance of Rapid Cycling
Alcohol destabilizes mood regulation, making episodes more frequent and unpredictable — a pattern known as rapid cycling.
This can result in:
- Four or more mood episodes in a single year
- Faster shifts between mania and depression
- More severe long-term outcomes that complicate treatment
Increased Risk of Suicidal Thoughts
Both alcohol use and bipolar disorder increase the risk of suicidal ideation, and together they can be especially dangerous.
This often includes:
- Intensified feelings of hopelessness
- Stronger impulses to act on harmful thoughts
- Lowered inhibitions that remove protective barriers
Interference With Recovery + Stability
Successful treatment for bipolar disorder relies on routines that support stability. Alcohol disrupts these efforts and can undo progress.
This often looks like:
- Breaking healthy routines like exercise and stress management
- Skipping therapy sessions or ignoring coping strategies
- Relapsing into old patterns despite progress in recovery
Treating Co-Occurring Conditions
Bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder are often treated separately, but when both conditions are present, it’s best to address them at the same time. Treating one but not the other can cause symptoms of the untreated condition to intensify. Without treatment, having both disorders can increase challenges such as hopelessness, mood swings, and out-of-control behavior.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment Approach
Effective treatment for co-occurring disorders — also known as dual diagnosis — requires an integrated approach that addresses both conditions at the same time. Clearview Treatment Programs offers specialized dual diagnosis treatment in Southern California serving the greater Los Angeles area. Depending on individual needs, care may begin in a residential program or an outpatient setting. Long-term recovery typically includes a personalized blend of therapy, medication management, and support groups — ensuring comprehensive care for lasting stability and wellness.
Ongoing Care + Support
Effective treatment for co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder doesn’t end after the first level of care. It requires consistent, long-term support. Individuals living with both conditions benefit most from maintaining regular contact with their treatment team, including psychiatrists, therapists, and medical providers.
At Clearview Treatment Programs in Los Angeles, our dual diagnosis experts emphasize the importance of monitoring progress and adjusting treatment when symptoms shift or current strategies aren’t working. Both bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder are highly treatable, and ongoing care — combining therapy, medication management, relapse prevention planning, and peer or family support — is what helps clients maintain stability and sustain recovery over time.
Get Help for Bipolar Disorder + Alcohol Use
If you or someone you love is struggling with both bipolar disorder and alcohol use, you don’t have to manage it alone. At Clearview Treatment Programs, we specialize in treating co-occurring conditions through an integrated approach that addresses both the symptoms of bipolar disorder and the challenges of alcohol use.
With evidence-based therapies, medication support when appropriate, and ongoing care, our team helps clients build healthier coping strategies, regain stability, and move forward with hope.
To learn more about our bipolar disorder and dual diagnosis treatment programs and take the first step toward recovery, please call us or reach out to one of our locations today.
