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Many of us with alcoholism and another mental illness Ð such as depression or bipolar Ð also struggle with what I call Òepisodic illiteracy.Ó

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ÒEpisodic illiteracyÓ is characterized by the inability to read the warning labels on the prescription bottles of our antidepressants and mood stabilizers. I am talking about the label with a line across a martini glass that says: DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES WHEN TAKING THIS MEDICATION or the label with the caricature of the droopy-eyed guy that says ALCOHOL MAY INTENSIFY THIS EFFECT.

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We can read the other warning labels on the bottle, especially the one about driving and operating heavy equipment if it will get us a day off work.

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The warning labels about alcohol are for YOU people, not us alcoholics. We are veteran drinkers. We know how to handle the intensified effects of alcohol. No one is going to tell us we should not drink, not even the droopy-eyed guy. Seriously, this is how we think.

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But Òepisodic illiteracyÓ comes with a price: You cannot whine about how your antidepressants do not work if you ignore the warning label and drink. Remember, ALCOHOL IS A DEPRESSANT. When you ignore the warning label, you are putting one substance in your mouth that WILL make you more depressed (alcohol) and putting another substance in your mouth that will not work as well as it should because the alcohol prevents the antidepressants from doing their job.

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As the philosopher Gump would say, ÒStupid is as stupid does.Ó

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Episodic illiteracy is rampant. No matter how many times we take our antidepressants, drink and then wind up in a black hole, we do not make the causal relationship between the warning label and our worsening depression. It only takes one good stomachache to persuade us not to take a medication on an empty stomach. But day after day we ignore the warning label on our antidepressants, drink and then wonder why we feel worse. We are dumber than PavlovÕs dogs.

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Maybe the Food and Drug Administration needs to come up with new warning labels for antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Maybe a label with a caricature of Homer Simpson: ALCOHOL MAY IMPAIR ABILITY TO READ WARNING LABELS. DÕOH!

Source: PalmBeachPost

www.ChristineStapleton.com

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