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.
Joe Barnby considers the findings of a recent meta-analysis of cross-sectional observational data, which explores the association of cannabis with cognitive functioning in adolescents and young adults.
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John Baker isn’t convinced by the findings of a systematic review on smoking bans and violence in mental health settings, which concludes that the introduction of smoke-free policies generally do not lead to an increase in violence.
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Chris Millar writes his debut blog on a recent paper that explores the link between mental illness and being subjected to crime in Denmark and the United States. This blog asks: how much do poverty and the safety net matter? There are some important implications for policy makers.
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Natasha Clarke explores a systematic review of Whole of Community interventions to reduce population level harms arising from alcohol and other drug use.
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Suzi Gage summarises a recent GWAS of lifetime cannabis use, which reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal influence of schizophrenia. Interesting new evidence ahead of our Mental Health Question Time #MHQT event in London tomorrow.
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Emma Wincup examines a recent US cross-sectional study that measures the burden of opioid-related mortality in the United States, which suggests that opioids (prescribed and illicit) could kill nearly half a million people across America over the next decade.
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Ian Hamilton explores a recent Finnish study of adolescent tobacco smoking and the risk of psychosis, which found that young people aged 15-16 who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day were three times more likely to have psychosis by the time they reached age 30.
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Noortje Uphoff appraises a systematic review and meta-analysis of morbidity and mortality in homeless individuals, prisoners, sex workers and individuals with substance use disorders in high-income countries.
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James MacCabe appraises a recent study, which looks at the association of combined patterns of tobacco and cannabis use in adolescents who go on to experience psychotic symptoms.
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Dean Connolly presents the findings of a recent literature review on chemsex, which explores sexualised drug use in UK men who have sex with men.
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