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.
This new Cochrane systematic review finds that motivational interviewing has no effect on reducing alcohol-related problems or risky behaviours such as drunk driving in young people.
[read the full story...]
Andrew Jones summarises a recent meta-analysis on the effectiveness of guided and unguided low-intensity Internet interventions for adult alcohol misuse.
[read the full story...]
This recent and well-conducted meta-review concludes that the impact on mortality and suicide of mental disorders is substantial, and probably poorly appreciated as a public health problem. Raphael Underwood’s blog summarises the data for all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders.
[read the full story...]
This new study estimates that there are approximately 3 million smokers in the UK with mental illness, and the direct cost of treatment to the NHS in this population was £719 million in 2010. The total smoking-attributable costs for this group are estimated at £2.34 billion.
[read the full story...]Matt Field summarises the findings of a recent cluster RCT that uses internet-based prevention (an Australian programme called Climate Schools) to reduce alcohol and cannabis use, truancy, psychological distress and moral disengagement.
[read the full story...]Paul Christiansen reports on a recent RCT that investigates how a mobile app can provide support for recovering alcoholics who are leaving residential treatment.
[read the full story...]
A new systematic review suggests that, when used alongside psychosocial interventions, medication can result in better alcohol consumption outcomes for people with drinking problems.
[read the full story...]
Meg Fluharty summarises a recent Cochrane review, which tells us that high-dose buprenorphine is an effective maintenance treatment for heroin compared to placebo, but fixed flexible-dosing methadone is superior to buprenorphine at participant retention.
[read the full story...]
Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are common, chronic conditions which cause substantial harm to the individual and society. They are associated with substantial morbidity (Schuckit, 2009) and responsible for approximately 4% of all deaths annually. The approximate cost of AUDs to the National Health Service is upwards of £3 billion per year. Less than one-third of [read the full story…]
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have recently searched for any new evidence that may be relevant to a public health guideline published in 2007; ‘Interventions to reduce substance misuse among vulnerable young people’. In this blog I summarise the new evidence that has emerged and highlight whether or not it is likely [read the full story…]
