Can long term drug (cocaine) and alcohol abuse cause bipolar disorder or bipolar - like behavior?

It sure can.Well, it ain't good.
I know the opposite is very true.. bipolar people have a tendency to self medicate themselves with drugs and booze to help them cope with an illness of the mind they can not accept.. It is very common for bipolar people to be in rehab or drug counseling before their doctor will begin administering medication for the illness.. There are some really bad side effects to medication when street drugs get mixed in.
To answer your question.. no, I don't think so.. chances are they were bipolar BEFORE their drug use began.. and this behavior was merely a coping mechanism. But rapid withdrawal from street drugs would probably screw up the mind almost as much as any non fatal overdose.
Hope this helps :)
yes but after a while it would subside as you are in a state of arrested development all the time you were using you never grew up ect so you are a bundle of tension nerves and emotions but If you are in fact ill then it is possible that you were self medicating
I'm not a doctor so I dont' know for sure, but I am a recovering addict (3 1/2 years clean, whoo hoo!) from many years of meth use and I was just recently in a residential program and seeing all the people there at that program, I would say the answer to that is yes. I believe so. I don't KNOW so, but I do belive that it could be true, very much so. :o)
Bipolar sometimes can lead to drug use. I have found that most of the Bipolar people I deal with are cocaine addicts. so for some I would say the bipolar comes first.