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.
Prevention is better than cure, right? When it comes to preventing drug- and alcohol-misuse, children of substance-abusing parents are a really important group to work with, as they are at higher risk of developing their own subtance-related problems, or other mental health problems, than their peers from non-substance-using families. My cousin the Lifestyle Elf has highlighted a [read the full story…]
This new cross sectional study from researchers at Harvard Medical School looks at the prevalence of DSM-IV disorders in over 10,000 teenagers living in the community. The study looked at a representative sample of young people. Homeless adolescents, school drop-outs and non-English speakers were excluded from the research, even though those who speak a different [read the full story…]
Psychiatrists, GPs and other professionals working in the substance misuse field will benefit from reading these new guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. The guidelines cover the pharmacological management of alcohol, nicotine, opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants and associated comorbidity with mental health problems and substance use or abuse in pregnancy. They look specifically at comorbidity, [read the full story…]
The NHS Information Centre have published their annual series of reports about alcohol use and misuse. The reports cover a range of issues including drinking habits and behaviours among adults (aged 16 and over) and school children (aged 11 to 15), drinking-related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol, alcohol related admissions to hospital and alcohol-related [read the full story…]
Today’s blog comes courtesy of my friend and yours, the Lifestyle Elf: “Mr Watson, come here, I want you”. These are the first intelligble words transmitted over a telephone, by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant, back in 1876. Nowadays, any observer of ears in the street will see a large proportion attached to mobiles; [read the full story…]
Today’s blog comes courtesy of The Lifestyle Elf. If you’re interested in healthy lifestyle research on diet, exercise, smoking, drinking and other public health issues, you can follow my cousin on Twitter, Facebook and via her excellent blog. When you’ve got a problem, where do you look for help, support and information? Here in the [read the full story…]
Some readers will be aware that the Mental Elf is no loner. I have a number of elfin cousins who also run websites that help busy professionals keep up to date with the latest research, policy and guidance in their field. One such site is The Lifestyle Elf, and she has written a blog recently [read the full story…]
This new briefing from the NHS Confederation sets out the policy context around tackling homelessness and addressing the mental health needs of homeless people. It also examines what considerations need to be made when planning, designing and delivering mental health services for homeless people and highlights examples of good practice. Around 70% of people accessing [read the full story…]
Delusional-like experiences (DLE) are quite common in the general population with a median prevalence of around 3.5% (ref 2). Studies show that these experiences often go hand-in-hand with other mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other chronic physical disorders such as impairments in hearing and vision. It is thought that [read the full story…]
The government have published their new alcohol strategy for the United Kingdom. The last few years has seen a fall in the number of alcohol-related deaths in many other countries, but the UK has bucked this trend and has seen a rise in deaths from liver disease and an increase in hospital admissions related to [read the full story…]
