Search:
Scroll to top
Tag: co-occurring disorders
08/01/2023

Recreational Cannabis Has Arrived in Minnesota. What Are Its Health Benefits, Risks?

Article Excerpt: Despite its use in medicine, cannabis is a cause for concern for some clinicians, especially when they consider the developing brains of children and young adults. It is also an understudied substance, due in part to its federal classification as a Schedule 1 drug, limiting what we know, scientifically, about its potential benefits and harms on the human body. “Cannabis is not one drug,” said Jacob Borodovsky, a senior research scientist at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “The cannabis plant itself, we’ve identified over 150 cannabinoid compounds that are present in the cannabis plant. THC and CBD are just two of those 150 or more identified compounds.” So, what do we know about cannabis and its health impacts?

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2nu3xj5a

Article Source: Post Bulletin

Posted in: Epidemiology, Regulation & Policy // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
10/27/2022

Personalising Mental Health Care

Article Excerpt: Although researchers have made unprecedented progress in identifying ‘averaged’ or ‘population-level’ mechanisms of mental health disorders, these approaches have led to a drowning effect at an individual level where person-specific information is often lost if it doesn’t align with an averaged expectation. To bridge this gap between research and clinical practice, we have developed a novel individualised machine learning framework called Affinity Scores. By identifying personalised signatures that can be integrated into a clinician’s decision-making for each of their patients, Affinity Scores represent a fundamental shift in our approach to personalised psychiatry.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/mrcn2ayh

Article Source: Pursuit

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ;
10/04/2021

Engagement with a digital therapeutic for smoking cessation designed for persons with psychiatric illness fully mediates smoking outcomes in a pilot randomized controlled trial

Browne J, Halverson TF, Vilardaga R, Engagement with a digital therapeutic for smoking cessation designed for persons with psychiatric illness fully mediates smoking outcomes in a pilot randomized controlled trial, Translational Behavioral Medicine, Volume 11, Issue 9, September 2021, Pages 1717–1725, https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibab100

This study investigated the meditational effect of a digital therapeutic for smoking cessation for adults with psychiatric disorders. Participants were 62 adults with severe mental illness who currently smoked, were adherent to psychiatric treatment, and lived in stable housing. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a tailored smartphone app for persons with severe mental illness (Learn to Quit) or a smartphone app with health information for the general population (NCI QuitGuide). The Learn to Quit app includes 28 modules that provide information, skills, and recommendations for smoking cessation based on acceptance and commitment therapy. The study measured engagement by collecting background data of app utilization, such as number of interactions with app content, amount of time per day of app use, and number of days the app was used. The study also evaluated smoking cessation by reduction in cigarettes per day from baseline to the four-month follow-up. Results showed that number of app interactions fully mediated reduction in cigarettes per day in the Learn to Quit arm, but not in the NCI QuitGuide arm. Minutes per day of app use and number of days used were not significant mediators. These findings indicate that engagement with theory-based content in Learn to Quit functioned as intended.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
08/05/2021

William C. Torrey, MD, Appointed to Raymond Sobel Professorship

Article Excerpt: William C. Torrey, MD, interim chair and professor of psychiatry and of health policy and clinical practice at the Geisel School of Medicine, has been appointed to the Raymond Sobel Professorship in Psychiatry for a two-year term effective June 1, 2021. Torrey is dedicated to improving care for adults with severe mental illness and integrating psychiatric care into primary care. His research, writing, and teaching focus on supported employment, integrated services for adults with co-occurring substance use disorders and severe mental illnesses, evidence-based practice implementation, collaborative care in primary care, and shared decision making in medication management for adults with psychiatric and addictive illnesses.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/kzrbzv9u

Article Source: Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine News

Posted in: Uncategorized // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
04/17/2020

Perspectives on trauma and the design of a technology-based trauma-informed intervention for women receiving medications for addiction treatment in community-based settings

Saraiya T, Swarbrick M, Franklin L, et al. (2020). Perspectives on trauma and the design of a technology-based trauma-informed intervention for women receiving medications for addiction treatment in community-based settings. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 112: 92-101. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2020.01.011

Researchers recruited female clients with lifetime opioid use disorder (OUD) and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (n = 11) and addiction treatment providers (n = 5) through study flyers at 2 community substance use clinics to participate in an investigation of barriers to trauma treatment and stakeholder perspectives on a prospective technology-based, trauma-informed intervention for women with OUD. Read More

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
09/06/2019

Alcohol use disorder and comorbid depression: A randomized controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of supportive text messages in aiding recovery

O’Reilly H, Hagerty A, O’Donnell S, et al. (2019). Alcohol use disorder and comorbid depression: A randomized controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of supportive text messages in aiding recovery. Alcohol and Alcoholism. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agz060

Researchers recruited 95 adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and comorbid depression, who were completing inpatient substance use rehabilitation at a Dublin hospital, to participate in a randomized controlled trial. Read More

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
02/08/2019

Preliminary outcomes of a computerized CBT/MET intervention for depressed cannabis users in psychiatry care

Glasner S, Kay-Lambkin F, Budney AJ, et al. (2018). Preliminary outcomes of computerized CBT/MET intervention for depressed cannabis users in psychiatry care. Cannabis. 1(2): 36-47. doi: 10.26828/cannabis.2018.02.004

Self-Help for Alcohol and other Drug Use and Depression (SHADE) is a computerized, clinician-assisted intervention for substance use and depression. Read More

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
10/27/2017

Technology-based interventions for substance use and comorbid disorders: An examination of the emerging literature.

Sugarman DE, Campbell ANC, Iles BR, Greenfield SF. 2017. Technology-based interventions for substance use and comorbid disorders: An examination of the emerging literature. Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 25(3): 123-134. doi: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000148

A search for papers addressing digital interventions for substance use and co-occurring disorders resulted in 14 articles examining nine digital interventions for co-occurring substance use disorder (SUD) and psychiatric disorders. Read More

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ;
08/24/2017

Making Smoking Cessation Work For People With Mental Illnesses And Other Vulnerable Populations

Article Excerpt: Addressing smoking among vulnerable populations requires motivating and engaging the clinical, governmental, and advocacy organizations that serve those clients. This involves challenging several erroneous but deeply ingrained myths, such as the beliefs that individuals with a chronic mental illness do not want to quit smoking, are unable to, rely on smoking to treat their underlying disease, or do not suffer much damage from smoking

Full Article: http://tinyurl.com/ybk8zc73

Article Source: Health Affairs Blog

Posted in: Behavioral Therapies, Dissemination & Implementation, News // Tagged: ; ; ;