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Opioid misuse common in adults with serious mental illness

A recent report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicated approximately 1.5 million adults with serious mental illness in the past year misused an opioid during the same period.

Analysis of the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicated that in the past year, 11.7 million adults misused opioids (4.8%) and 9.8 million had a serious mental illness (4%).

Overall, 0.6% of all adults experienced serious mental illness and misused opioids in 2015.

Approximately one in eight adults who misuse opioids experience serious mental illness and one in seven with serious mental illness misuse opioids.

SAMHSA has released several resources to combat these issues, such as Decisions in Recovery: Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, an online interactive aid that houses information about the role of medications in treating opioid use disorder.

Further, SAMHSA’s Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration Program funds 205 grant programs that integrate primary and behavioral health care for individuals with serious mental illness, including those with a co-occurring substance use disorder.

For more information :

To access SAMHSA’s Decisions in Recovery: Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, visit http://www.samhsa.gov/brss-tacs/shared-decision-making.

The spotlight report is available at: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_2734/Spotlight-2734.html.