The number of people admitted to hospital in England with mental illnesses linked to use of illegal drugs has doubled in the past decade, official figures revealed yesterday. The NHS Information Centre said 38,170 adults and children were admitted with drug-related mental and behavioural disorders in 2006-7, an increase of 101% since 1996-97.Does the U.S. have any idea about the rates of drug related mental health problems?
I don't think so. One obvious reason that might be easier for them generate that that they have a single payer health care system that I imagine has a central data system. However, I suspect that the biggest barrier to the U.S. generating that kind of data is philosophical. There's considerable resistance to characterizing mental health problems as drug related. The conventional wisdom in the U.S. is that most people with substance use disorders have a mental illness and that both conditions are primary. (See principles 1 & 5.) Though it's not a listed principle, the U.S. system also operates on the assumption that all mental health problems are chronic.
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