Addiction is defined as not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.
Addiction is most commonly associated with gambling, drugs, alcohol and smoking, but it’s possible to be addicted to just about anything, including work, the internet, shopping, solvents and sex.
Andrew Jones summarises a recent nationwide longitudinal cohort study, which explores the relationship between substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, and mortality after release from prison.
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Sally Adams appraises and summarises the SCIMITAR pilot RCT, which investigates smoking cessation for people with severe mental ill health. The paper presents a highly promising bespoke intervention for smokers with bipolar disorder, psychosis or schizophrenia.
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Marcus Munafò looks at the mounting evidence about smoking and risk of schizophrenia, including a new case-control study that provides clear evidence of a prospective association between cigarette smoking and a subsequent diagnosis of schizophrenia.
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Caroline Struthers reports on a recent meta-analysis, which finds that smoking is associated with an increased risk of dementia. The review finds that quitting smoking reduces the risk to the same level as those who have never smoked.
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Natasha Clarke summarises a recent Cochrane review of pharmacotherapy for anxiety and comorbid alcohol use disorders, which found only very low quality evidence about the effectiveness of medication (buspirone, paroxetine, sertraline) for treating patients with both conditions.
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Eleanor Kennedy summarises a Campbell systematic review of CBT for substance misuse in young people in outpatient treatment, which is inconclusive in terms of CBT being more or less effective than other therapies.
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In this blog, Lesley Dawson considers a systematic review, which explores the link between smoking and rotator cuff pathology and shoulder dysfunction.
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Kathryn Walsh presents a study of ‘high risk’ young people, which found that cannabis abuse or dependence significantly increased the risk of conversion to psychosis. The research also found that alcohol use weakened the relationship between cannabis use and conversion to psychosis.
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Olivia Maynard appraises a recent systematic review, which investigates the impact of smoke-free psychiatric hospitals on patients’ motivations to quit and smoking behaviour.
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Meg Fluharty summarises a recent clinical overview of smoking cessation in people with severe mental illness, which provides useful practical advice to clinicians who are trying to help service users with schizophrenia, psychosis and other conditions to quit smoking
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