Substance Use Disorder

Children with mental health issues appear to be more likely to have serious problems that make it more difficult to lead successful lives in adulthood, a new study suggests.

The state of substance abuse prevention, early intervention and treatment for adolescents and young adults is inadequate. With the promise of the Affordable Care and Parity Acts, there is greater potential for change.

Parents are more concerned about their teens’ mental health than about their use of drugs or alcohol, a new survey finds.

A survey of college freshmen finds many fewer of them report drinking and smoking in high school, compared with first-year college students in previous years.

Adults with a history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who drink or use drugs start at an earlier age on average than those with no history of the disorder, a new study suggests.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, January 9, 2015- Thursday, January 15, 2015.

Stress associated with retirement, caused by factors such as loneliness and financial pressures, may be associated with an increased risk of substance abuse, a new study suggests.

Young adults who do not attend college are more likely than their peers who are enrolled in school to abuse prescription painkillers, according to new research.

Almost 23 percent of high school students use tobacco products, and more than 90 percent of those students smoke cigarettes, cigars, hookahs or pipes, a new government study finds.

Teens who play high-contact sports such as football, hockey, lacrosse or wrestling are more likely than those who play noncontact sports to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes or marijuana, a new study suggests.

Teenagers who harm themselves are more likely to develop substance use problems later in life, compared with their peers who do not engage in self-harm, according to a new study.

More than 55 universities and colleges have joined a program designed to help schools prevent the two leading causes of death in young adults—accidents, including those caused by prescription drug overdoses or alcohol poisoning, and suicide.

A growing number of older adults are struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, experts tell The New York Times. Alcohol abuse is the biggest problem among older adults, but the rate of illicit drug use among adults ages 50 to 64 is also on the rise.

People who overcome a substance use disorder have less than half the risk of those who do not overcome it of developing a new addiction, according to researchers at Columbia University.

A survey of the U.S. homeless population indicates 26.6 percent of people living on the street report chronic substance abuse, according to The Washington Post.

Treatment options are lacking for teens with substance use disorders, experts say. Addiction treatment resources are expensive, hard to find, and often not effective, they tell U.S. News & World Report.

A new government report finds 10 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds had a major depressive episode in the past year. Almost 20 percent of young adults, ages 18 to 25, had any mental illness in the past year.

People in recovery from substance abuse should speak out and give hope to others in similar situations, according to the Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Introverts who tend to have fewer positive feelings, or to not be attracted to rewards in life, are more likely to abuse drugs than more extroverted people with positive emotions, a new study suggests.

About 3.7 million Americans, who live in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, suffer from mental illness, psychological distress or a substance use disorder and don’t have health insurance, according to a recent report.

The economic impact of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which requires larger employer-based insurance plans to cover psychiatric illnesses and substance use disorders in the same way they do illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, has been minimal, a new study finds.

Researchers are making progress in the search for medicines to treat addiction, according to The Wall Street Journal. They are learning more about how heavy drug and alcohol use affects the brain.

Some Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are beginning to treat substance use disorders and mental illness together, The Columbus Dispatch reports. Until recently, VA hospitals tended to treat the two problems separately.

A new study dispels the myth that the most frequent users of hospital emergency rooms are people with mental illness and substance use disorders. This population accounts for only a small percentage of visits, the researchers found.