Drug and Substance Abuse Among People with Mental Health Disorders:

Tackling the correlation between mental health and abusing drugs and other substances

Key Speakers

Overview

According to BetterHelp “roughly 50% of individuals with severe mental disorders are affected by substance abuse. 37% of alcohol abusers and 53% of drug abusers also have at least one serious mental illness. Of all people diagnosed as mentally ill, 29% abuse alcohol or drugs.” When mental health goes unnoticed, ignored or even undiagnosed, the person is more likely to resort to alcohol and drugs as a means of treating their symptoms. “Alcohol and drugs are often used to self-medicate the symptoms of mental health problems… Alcohol and drug abuse can increase the underlying risk for mental disorders.” As BetterHelp continues to exemplify, alcohol and drug abuse can also lead to developing mental health problems, leading to issues such as isolation, depression, anxiety, and many other disorders. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “serious mental illness is defined by someone over 18 having a diagnosable mental, behavior, or emotional disorder that causes serious functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. Substance use disorders occur when the recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs causes clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.” The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says that the most abused drugs among people with mental health struggles are opioids, alcohol, and nicotine.

Drug and substance abuse combined with mental health disorders not only affects the person experiencing this obstacle, but also families and friends of the individual, and their environment as the person begins to disengage themselves from their usual social activities and work. The person suffering the effects of mental health and substance/drug abuse begin to isolate themselves from their usual routines. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) highlights as well, the use of drugs can trigger serious mental health illnesses, such as schizophrenia. “Patients with schizophrenia have higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use disorders than the general population.”  As a response to the rise in drug and substance use during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the government passed the SUPPORT Act, which as SAMHSA explains “the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act of 2018, was made law to address the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic. The legislation includes provisions to strengthen the behavioral health workforce through increasing addiction medicine education; expand access to high-quality care; and cover medicine in a way that facilitates the delivery of coordinated and comprehensive treatment.”

The science community has been increasingly working on integrating science-based evidence and practices into the field of clinical care, particularly in the substance abuse field. While the SUPPORT Act was designated to aid patients that struggle with substance and drug over-use and help people struggling with mental health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that “about 2 million times each year, people with serious mental illnesses are booked into jails. Nearly 2 in 5 people who are incarcerated have a history of mental illness (37% in state and federal prisons and 44% held in local jails). NAMI continues to say that “many factors have contributed to the criminalization of people with mental illness, including the assumptions that people with mental illness are violent and the lack of a robust mental health crisis response infrastructure. Jails and prisons have become America’s de-facto mental health facilities.”

Keeping this in mind, this symposium seeks to address the gap between policy and how individuals suffering from mental health and substance abuse disorders are aided. We will cover topics such as the rise of substance abuse during COVID-19 and how that led to an increase in mental health disorders, and also discuss the way the current incarceration system addresses mental health and drug abuse with inmates.

Program

Who Should Attend?