ABSTRACT
Many patients with serious enduring mental illness (SEMI) also have problems with drug and/or alcohol misuse. Levels of drug use are not static and change according to current vogue, price, availability and demographics of the population. The relationship between those with addiction and serious mental health problems is complex, with possibilities for interrelationships including: a primary psychiatric illness precipitating or leading to substance use, and substance use worsening or altering the course of a psychiatric illness. This chapter shows the proportion of drug users with specific psychiatric conditions found in the UK National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS). It summarizes the drugs which are subject to abuse. Research findings concerning the substances preferred by people with mental illness are equivocal. The implications for people with mental health problems who also use drugs and/or alcohol can be serious, and it is important that the primary care practitioner is aware of them.
