Welcome to PC, Berly - I hope you'll find it helpful!

One of the main reasons that bipolar people tend to have substance use problems is that they are self-medicating to reduce their symptoms. Unfortunately, that doesn't usually work very well and can have very bad consequences.

If your doctor believes you are bipolar, you should seriously consider treatments specific to bipolar, and even more so, dual diagnosis (bipolar + substance abuse). You did not mention whether your doctor is a psychiatrist. If not, you should go to a psychiatrist for evaluation to be more certain of the diagnosis because they are trained in recognizing these illnesses, unlike a typical family doctor.

I used to use drugs and alcohol to try to manage my symptoms. Now that I am stable on medications, I don't feel any need to do that anymore, and have been able to break my addictions. My moods and mental functioning are much more stable and I feel more like myself than I have in years. Others here have had similar experiences.

So the first thing I would suggest that you do is go to a psychiatrist, if you haven't, take their diagnosis seriously (even if you don't want to believe it - none of us wanted this diagnosis!) and follow the treatments they suggest, usually mood stabilizer medications and possibly antipsychotics. It may take some time to find the treatments that best help you, but bipolar is not the end of everything, and you can find stability and live a productive life.

If you have addiction problems, they may also require you to go into rehab so that you can be properly evaluated. I know that may seem very difficult and as you mentioned, you don't think being an addict is all that bad, but if you want to get your life in order, you will have to do this. Otherwise, as many can attest, leaving bipolar untreated and continuing with the addictions is almost assuredly the most miserable and self-destructive path and tends to end very badly.

Good luck!