Aripiprazole Side Effect: Gambling Addiction

I have a lot of anger about various side effects from bipolar drugs that were not disclosed to me. Some of them were known, some not. Many of these pdocs were genuinely trying to help me, others were burnt out. I struggle with severe obesity caused by these pills, remembrances of victimization that happened to me while I was on these pills. I have ptsd , from years of akathisia that were literally torture. I think sometimes the pills are worse than the disease, and that's for sure true for those of us who aren't helped, but are seriously harmed. I'm very glad for those patients who do well in treatment. But what about the patients who lost all their savings and their marriage from an induced gambling addiction and they STILL have no good treatment for bipolar?
Natasha, I post here every year or so as a person who is doing mostly ok not on meds. About the same as you, maybe, but with more mania? I don't agree with you on a lot of things.
Thanks for leaving my comments up. I post here because some people never find a treatment, and they need to find a way to live and have some quality of life. It is possible to have a life worth living, even if you're not one of the lucky ones: lithium and done. I'm glad I'm alive. I've been told I have a severe course of bipolar. Somehow I let the bipolar moods burn me and be content, except for the worst months. I'm 60 and there still is no sign of cognitive damage, nor are the moods more chronic. I think some of the meds are doing that to people. My moods did get more chronic due to antidepressants, almost for sure. It's hard to square in my mind that most of the doctors who harmed me so much were trying their best to help me. This happens in other areas of medicine, e.g. chemo, but everyone acknowledges that chemo can harm or even kill the patient, that chemo may not work but the patient is harmed anyway. But people with bipolar are shushed or lied to, often lies of omission, so they'll take their meds. And if meds don't work, what are we supposed to do? The only answer given is you're screwed then. Well that's not true.
Again, thanks for leaving my posts on your site even though I'm often not in agreement, and for tackling difficult topics that are lies of omission elsewhere.

I was told by my Dr that this medication is more “activating” than all the other antipsychotics (it is also one of the more expensive ones as well, - thank God for insurance)). He said he couldn’t give me a traditional antidepressant to help with my depression because there was a likelihood it could cause mania so that’s why this particular medication was prescribed for me. It was considered my best option as antipsychotics are sometimes used as an alternative to the typical “gold standard” (aka lithium which I am unable to tolerate). Antipsychotics can help reduce both mania and psychosis. In the past I have suffered from both when my mania became so severe).
I also tend to obsessively ruminate about things when I am anxious or depressed about something. This can also lead to a variety of obsessive or compulsive behaviours I choose to use in an attempt to relieve my symptoms
I would like to suggest that some people can already have a preexisting proclivity towards obsessive/compulsive thinking and behaviour BEFORE taking this medication and that can manifest itself in any number of ways not just gambling. People are also known to switch addictions when they give up a pre-existing one. It’s possible that a person may also have an undiagnosed or even co existing condition related to obsessive compulsiveness such as an alcohol addiction which is also known to loosen a persons inhibitions and impair their judgement much like a person with a gambling problem - the two can co-exist with one feeding the other. Alcoholics often have a hard time admitting they’re alcoholic or will hide their addiction from others. Many bipolar are also alcoholics (far in excess of 9%)
Depression can also lead to suicide so what’s a person with bipolar (a manic DEPRESSIVE) illness supposed to do???
Even a person already suffering from depression will willingly take a traditional antidepressant even though there is often a warning label on the bottle that says taking this medication may lead to suicide). My question is does it lead to suicidal feelings or is the person already suicidal beforehand and then they just become more depressed and suicidal when they find the medication doesn’t actuall relieve their depression right away or at all. This could lead to a further feeling of hopeless (which is strong contributing factor leading up to suicide)
My guess is that these drug companies are just covering their bases by putting these warning labels on their drug bottles. I don’t blame them. Who wants to get sued? It’s fact is that different people may react differently to different medications for a variety of reasons and we still have much to learn about the brain and the way it works.
Many people with mental illness also suffer economically because of their dis-ease. May I suggest that some people could become compulsive gamblers because of it. Perhaps they feel they’ve run out of viable options to improve their economic situation. Much like gambling, couldn’t filing a lawsuit against a rich drug company also be considered a financial gamble , a desperate persons last ditch attempt to improve their economic situation? After all what do they have to loose, they are already suffering financially

My son lost 10’s of thousands of dollars and 5 years of his life in jail and prison due to robberies committed for gambling money. I don’t believe it was listed in 2017 as a possible side effect.