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.
The relationship between cannabis and psychosis has been one of the hottest topics in psychiatry over the last decade, and with good reason. Policy-makers still disagree on whether cannabis should be legalised or how it should be classified, with Uruguay being the most recent country to legalise it. Drawing broadly from work initiated by Robin [read the full story…]
Approximately 10.6% of individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) in the US seek treatment, with 40-60% relapsing within a year (Dept of Health and Human Services, 2008; McLellan et al, 2000). This highlights a real need for substance abuse treatment that focuses on relapse prevention. This blog summarises a recent RCT from JAMA Psychiatry on [read the full story…]
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recently published an evidence update focussed on preventing harmful drinking. This update builds upon previous recommendations (NICE PH24, 2010) and is aimed at increasing awareness of the latest evidence available. Furthermore, the update indicates whether any new research may have potential impact on future NICE [read the full story…]
Research suggests that the risk of developing psychiatric problems (such as autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability or schizophrenia) may be linked to increased paternal age at the time of conception. This seems quite plausible given that advancing age in men is associated with increased genetic mutations in sperm. However, studies so far have generally not [read the full story…]
Alcohol use disorder is frequently comorbid with major depressive disorder, and the disease burden associated with this dual diagnosis is considerably greater than that attributed to each disorder in isolation. This creates a problem for clinicians who are trying to treat depressed problem drinkers, because many services are set up to deal with only one [read the full story…]
Standardised (or ‘plain’) packaging of cigarettes requires all branding to be removed, leaving the brand name to be placed in a standard location and font on a standard colour cigarette pack. Apart from the small brand name, the packs would still feature a prominent health warning as well as counterfeiting marks. The aim of standardised [read the full story…]
The fact that drug overdoses are the second largest cause of premature death from unintentional injuries in the US (for example, in 2010 there was 38,329 drug overdose deaths) is not a surprising statistic. What may surprise readers is that of these deaths 22,134 were attributed to prescription drugs. Indeed, almost one and a half [read the full story…]
Despite being on the decline, smoking is still one of the largest causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the world. According to recent World Health Organisation data, smoking directly kills around 5 million people every year. The NHS spends almost £90 million on cessation efforts to combat the £5 billion treatment cost. Recent research [read the full story…]
It is well known that tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world (WHO, 2011). However, the associations between smoking and mental health are less well established. Smokers often want to quit, but the belief that cigarettes can be used to regulate mood can often deter them, and this is especially true [read the full story…]
Tobacco use is the single most important preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in developed countries. However, what is less widely appreciated is that as the overall prevalence of smoking has declined, tobacco use has become an increasingly important driver of health inequalities. For example, the prevalence of smoking in the United Kingdom has declined [read the full story…]
