substance misuse

A drug is a chemical substance that acts on the brain and nervous system, changing a person’s mood, emotion or state of consciousness. Drugs are often classified by the effect they have.
Stimulants, such as cocaine, make people feel full of energy. Depressants (or sedatives), such as heroin, make people feel relaxed. Hallucinogens, such as LSD, make people see, feel or hear things that are not real. Drug or substance misuse is when a person regularly takes one or more drugs to change their mood, emotion or state of consciousness.

Our substance misuse Blogs

Social media, smoking and young people: is there any link?

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Ian Hamilton summarises a longitudinal survey study of UK youth, which suggests there is an association between social media exposure and use of e-cigarettes and smoking.

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Cannabis use disorder associated with increased risk of both psychotic and nonpsychotic unipolar depression and bipolar disorder

Cannabis plant

Jack Wilson critiques a recent Danish longitudinal study published in JAMA Psychiatry, which suggests that cannabis use disorder is independently associated with bipolar disorder and unipolar depression.

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Functional alternatives to alcohol: desirable effects, but without the harm?

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Matt Field summarises a review led by David Nutt, which presents our current knowledge of how alcohol mediates its effects in the brain, and how we can exploit this knowledge to develop functional safe alternatives to alcohol.

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Mental health problems and admissions to hospital for accidents and injuries in the UK military

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Ana Veic summarises a epidemiological study exploring the mental health problems and admissions to hospital for accidents and injuries in the UK military.

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Discrimination, dysphoria and drinking: hazardous alcohol use in UK trans and non-binary people

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Nora de Bode summarises a cross-sectional study looking at alcohol use in trans and non-binary people living in the UK.

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Unveiling the Hidden Struggles: Lived Experience, impact and coping amongst children of parents who use substances

Children should be seen and heard.

Introduction This paper, from Muir and colleagues (2023), details a systematic review exploring the lived experiences of children and young people whose parents use substances. We know from a wide range of research and policy, that parental drug and alcohol use has wide ranging impacts on young people throughout their lives, and this study, which includes the [read the full story…]

Cannabis use and its legalisation: analysing chronic pain in US veterans using electronic health records

American Soldiers and US Flag. US troops

In their debut blog, Grace Williamson and Daniel Leightley review a US study on chronic pain, cannabis legalisation, and cannabis use disorder in US veterans.

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Nitrous oxide may be harmful for ‘heavy users’ according to new review, but more research needed

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Ian Hamilton looks at a recent literature review on the presence and prevalence of substance use disorder symptoms in recreational nitrous oxide users.

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Are e-cigarettes more addictive than tobacco?

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Tuba Saygin Avsar reviews a study on the perceived addiction of e-cigarettes, which used data from the International Tobacco Control Smoking and Vaping England Survey, to suggest that most UK vapers consider e-cigarettes less addictive than tobacco.

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How can we provide integrated care for people with co-occurring addiction and severe mental health problems?

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Akansha Naraindas considers a new review which offers insights to support the evaluation and restructuring of services for people with comorbid severe mental problems and substance use conditions.

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