Category: drug addiction

Plight of those with ‘dual diagnosis’ most evident in the homeless

Dual diagnosis is an illness which a person experiences when they have both an addiction problem and a mental health issue

On a late evening in April 2017, I sat in an emergency accommodation hostel, a place where there are no facilities for you to stay during the day and so you are put out on to the streets every morning.

But I didn’t know that yet.

In fact, I didn’t know much at all about how the system worked.  more

Avicii’s family launches mental health foundation

In the wake of his death last year, the family of superstar DJ-producer Avicii has launched a new foundation.

The Tim Bergling Foundation will raise money for a variety of causes including mental health and suicide prevention, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

Tim Bergling was the Swedish superstar’s real name.

Avicii, 28, was found dead last year in Muscat, Oman. He was 28.
The Swedish star had been open about his struggles and took a break from touring in 2016.  more

In 1969 the fifth Beatle was heroin: John Lennon’s addiction took its toll on the band

In early 1969, the faces of heroin addiction for Paul, George and Ringo were John and Yoko

Fifty years ago, the Beatles entered their final year as a working rock ’n’ roll band. And in the ensuing decades, the reasons for their eventual disbandment have been debated ad nauseam. Was it Yoko Ono’s constant presence in the studio? Paul McCartney’s increasingly controlling nature? John Lennon’s rage to break free of the partnership that he had brokered with McCartney after their meeting in a Liverpool churchyard in July 1957? Or simply Ringo Starr’s apathy or George Harrison’s need to strike out on his own and fulfill his promise as a songwriter in his own right?

In truth, although each of the above was a contributing factor, by January 1969 a much darker force had made its presence known in their world. During that fateful year, the Beatles suffered, as so many families do today, from the daily pain and bewilderment of an opioid addiction.  more

Cybersecurity Mental Health Warning — 1 In 6 CISOs Now Medicate Or Use Alcohol

A new global study of cybersecurity professionals has revealed the true extent to which the stresses and pressures facing the average CISO impact upon both professional and personal life. It should come as no surprise that stress is part of the job description for the CISO, and every one of the 408 questioned for the Life Inside the Perimeter: Understanding the Modern CISO report, commissioned by Nominet, said they were indeed experiencing stress. However, that 17% said that they had turned to medication or alcohol to help deal with that stress should be a statistic that shocks us all.

Stress is undoubtedly playing a part as far as the decline in the mental health of the modern CISO is concerned; 91% of the CISOs surveyed said the levels of stress they were suffering was moderate or high and 60% rarely disconnected from their work role. That 88% worked more than 40 hours per week isn’t a shocker, nor the 27% that work up to 60 hours, but with 1 in 5 being available 24/7 and 89% of U.S. based CISOs never having had a two week break from their job, the true extent of this disconnect problem becomes clear.  more

Newly discharged mental health patients at much higher risk of death

Such patients are 90 times more likely to die from drugs overdose than general population, research finds

People with mental health problems are at a hugely increased risk of dying from unnatural causes, including suicide, soon after they have been discharged from hospital, new research reveals.

Such patients are 38 times more likely to die of fatal poisoning and 90 times more likely to perish from a drugs overdose than the general population, according to a new study.

Experts say the difficulties some people with serious mental illness have in adjusting to life after a spell of inpatient care are likely to explain the higher death rate among that group of vulnerable patients.  more