Individuals with Serious Mental Illness Less Likely to Receive Addiction Treatment

A study released this week by researchers at Johns Hopkins found that individuals with serious mental health conditions are less likely to receive addiction treatment.

The study, published by the journal Psychiatry Research, was based on an analysis of records for 271 patients diagnosed with severe mental illness at two Baltimore mental health centers.

Among the findings, persons with serious mental illnesses were 20 times more likely than the general population to use heroin (32% of mental health patients vs. 1.6% of the general population), and just 1 in 7 of those patients received medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction.

In a news release announcing the findings, study senior author Stanislav Spivak, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine, noted that patients with serious mental health disorders can sometimes struggle in the structured environment treatment setting.

“They may not be organized enough or may seem distracted, they may feel uncomfortable in groups or they may make other people uncomfortable,” he said. “Similarly, the negative symptoms that accompany serious mental disorders such as apathy, ambivalence or social withdrawal, can decrease these patients’ ability to fully participate in treatment.”

As such, he added, treatment providers should be aware of such symptoms and not chalk up such behaviors as being indicative of patients having a lack of interest in receiving treatment.