People Living with Psychotic Illness 2010: Report on the Second Australian National Survey

Abstract

People with psychotic illness included in the survey sample. 7,955 people were identified through the three cohort entry pathways. Of these, a sample of 1,825 was randomly selected for interview. People with psychotic illness not included in the survey sample.

Screening for mental disorder comorbidity in Australian alcohol and other drug residential treatment settings

“…The prevalence and taxonomy of co-occurring mental disorders reported in this thesis strongly demonstrate the need to use screening measures that screen for "lower prevalence" disorders, such as psychotic disorders in this population. These disorders may be low prevalence in the general population at large, (0.45%, Morgan et al, 2011), but the results in this thesis support earlier research (Grella & Stein, 2006;Mortlock et al, 2011) and demonstrate psychotic disorders ! 121!…”

“…The Salvation Army Australian residential AOD treatment populations endorse a large number of mental disorder symptoms from a wide spectrum of mental disorders when surveyed with short screening instruments. Psychotic disorders may be present in this population at a much higher rate than reported previously in either treatment or non-treatment populations (Jainchill, 1994;Morgan et al, 2011). Comprehensive mental disorder assessment with semi-structured clinical interviews is necessary to accurately ascertain the identity and needs of this population.…”

“…Due to the high estimated rates of comorbid mental disorder the prevalence and taxonomy of mental disorder comorbidity in residential alcohol and other drug treatment services was then assessed in Study 2 using a semi-structured interview. Study 2 involved administration of five commonly used mental disorder screening instruments Psychotic disorders are particularly prevalent when compared to the general population (19% vs. 0.45%) (Morgan et al, 2011). The findings suggest a need for integrated treatment of comorbid disorders, strong linkages between alcohol and other drug treatment services and psychological services and training for alcohol and other drug treatment workers to better address comorbidity.…”

A review of the economic impact of mental illness

“…The findings suggest that people with psychotic illness have substantially poorer physical health than the general population and remain at considerably greater risk of higher levels of obesity, smoking, alcohol and drug use. 27 Several gaps and unanswered questions are evident from this review. First, given the high prevalence of mental illness in our society, the review found limited research relating to the costs and impact of mental illness.…”

The potential impact of vaporized nicotine products on vulnerable subpopulations

“…Those who do manage to quit have often smoked for more years than ex-smokers in the general population because they experience greater difficulty and take a longer time to achieve abstinence [16]. Given the slow or complete lack of progress in reducing smoking among some of these priority populations [17], new approaches need to be trialled, such as encouraging the long-term use of non-combustible nicotine products including vaporized nicotine products, instead of smoking cigarettes. These options could have a substantial impact on health outcomes for these populations, if they assist more of these vulnerable smokers to quit and they do so sooner before the onset of tobacco-related diseases.…”