A Comparison of the Patterns of Drug Use among Patients with and without Severe Mental Illness

We compared the patterns of substance use among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) served by three community treatment teams, substance users with non-severe mental illness (NSMI), and substance abusers without mental illness (no mental illness: NMI). There were highly significant differences...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American journal on addictions Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 424 - 431
Main Authors Gandhi, Devang H., Bogrov, Moira U., Osher, Fred C., Myers, C. Patrick
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Informa UK Ltd 01.10.2003
Subjects
Adult
Alcoholism - diagnosis
Alcoholism - epidemiology
Alcoholism - rehabilitation
Baltimore
Chronic Disease
Community Mental Health Services
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry)
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Patient Care Team
Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis
Psychotic Disorders - epidemiology
Psychotic Disorders - rehabilitation
Street Drugs
Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation
Urban Population - statistics & numerical data
Baltimore
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Summary:We compared the patterns of substance use among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) served by three community treatment teams, substance users with non-severe mental illness (NSMI), and substance abusers without mental illness (no mental illness: NMI). There were highly significant differences in substance use patterns among the groups: among patients with SMI, the order of drug preference was alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, and then heroin; in the NMI group, it was cocaine, alcohol, heroin, and then cannabis; while in the NSMI group, it was alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and then cannabis. The data suggest that the choice of drugs by individuals with SMI may be determined by factors related to their illness, in addition to the price and availability of the particular drug. (Am J Addict 2003;12:424-431)
ISSN:1055-0496
1521-0391
DOI:10.1080/10550490390240792