Discussion.
This report presents the case
of synthetic stimulant addiction developed
against the backdrop of bipolar disorder.
Although the national regulation of diagnostic
procedures recognizes only the frameworks of
the International Statistical Classification of
Diseases and Related Health Problems in the
mental care sector, the criteria of Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
enable more accurate diagnosis of bipolar
disorder for the given patient. The described
clinical picture of mental abnormalities
demonstrated the course of bipolar disorder
Type II, which is distinguished by milder
clinical features and by lower probability of
developing a drug addiction. According to
Merikangas et al., the lifetime prevalence of
any substance use disorder among individuals
with bipolar I disorder amounted to 52 percent,
and in bipolar II disorder to 37 percent [10].
In the described case, the onset of stimulant
use was attributed to the conventional distress
situation and did not have not any nonobvious
relations to the affective episodes. In a patient
like the one presented herein, the impact
of bipolar disorder may have contributed
substantially to the stress vulnerability [11].
The extreme toxic potency and immense
variety of synthetic drugs in association with
endogenous mental mediator disparities lead
to the severe clinical symptoms that can
hardly be predicted and assessed. Describing
the comorbidity between NPS use and mental
disorders, an Italian multicenter-observational
study ranked bipolar disorder as the most
prevalent psychiatric diagnosis in patients with
synthetic drug abuse [12]. Martinotti et al.
provided this finding with two explanations. On
the one hand, NPS as a trigger may precipitate
affective psychiatric symptoms deteriorating
the course of bipolar disease. On the other
hand, NPS use may be a result of addiction
vulnarability of bipolar persons, especially in
light of unrestricted availability of synthetic
drugs on the illegal markets [13]. The
toxicological properties of a particular NPS
group account for specific clinical symptoms
that may affect the course of bipolar disorder.
For instance, while psychotic symptoms
are associated with the use of tryptamines,
methylenedioxypyrovalerone
(MDPV),
methylphenidate, synthetic cannabinoid
receptor agonists and amphetamine-type
compounds [14,15], dopaminergic NPS
(synthetic cathinones) contribute to the fast
development of addictive symptoms with
prolonged stimulation, insomnia, agitation
[16].
In practice, synthetic stimulant addiction
develops within a short time span (up to 4-6
months) of the onset. In the present case, we did
not observe the pattern of high-risk “skorost”
use, despite the persistently intensive craving
symptoms. That finding can be attributed to
the alleviating impact of the bipolar pathology.
Meanwhile,
the
reported
drug
intoxications
(e.g.
stimulants
and
cannabinoids) were mostly accompanied by
psychotic symptoms. The given features could
be explained by two issues: (i) the cross-talks
of abnormal mediator physiology in the event
of the combination of drug addiction and
endogenous disorder; (ii) the heterogenous
effects of basic antidepressant medication on
addiction syndromes and toxidromes [9].
The substance addiction influences the
course of endogenous pathology, diminishing
medication compliance and changing the
classic clinical affective symptoms, which
was distinctly traced in the history of our
patient. The “skorost” exposure precipitated
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