Sean Fogler, a doctor in recovery writing on Stat, explains how his dual roles – that of a physician and that of a person with experience of addiction and recovery – gave him a unique insight into attitudes to patients with substance use disorders and mental health problems in health care systems. He gives evidence … Continue reading Weaponizing Stigma: ‘people don’t die from overdoses’
Author: Dr David McCartney
Addiction Medicine Specialist
Residential treatment: making things better
There’s a bit of attention being given to residential rehabilitation in Scotland at the moment - something that's good to see. A working group that I was part of has made recommendations to the Scottish Government which have been broadly welcomed. It’s good to hear that the Public Health Minister, Joe Fitzpatrick, has pledged £90,000 … Continue reading Residential treatment: making things better
Residential rehabilitation in Scotland: what’s going on?
For a significant number of people in recovery, rehab has been part of their journey, yet the truth is that we know very little about residential rehabilitation in Scotland. In the summer of 2020, the Scottish Government public health minister, Joe Fitzpatrick, set up a working group to explore the subject. I was asked to … Continue reading Residential rehabilitation in Scotland: what’s going on?
Treatment in England: positive, interesting and alarming
Public Health England (PHE) recently published their summary of what’s going on in substance use disorder treatment in England over 2019-20. Despite the shared culture and proximity of Scotland and England, there’s been a significant divergence in drug and alcohol policy and treatment delivery over the years. We’ve not been good as we might have … Continue reading Treatment in England: positive, interesting and alarming
Reasons to be cheerful
Recovery is not only possible, it is common.Eddie et al, 2020 If you are looking for reasons to be cheerful in these testing times, read on. I’ve been taking a look at a piece of research (1), about to be published, from the Recovery Research Institute in Massachusetts, which examined questionnaire responses from over 25,000 … Continue reading Reasons to be cheerful
The ten most important things about addiction (part 2)
The conclusion of the two-parter. Part one is here. Professor Selman’s last five essentials: 6. Different therapies appear to produce similar treatment outcomes. Project MATCH, a huge psychotherapy trial showed similar outcomes for the techniques of motivational enhancement therapy, twelve step facilitation and cognitive behavioural therapy. Other trials including British ones have shown the same results. … Continue reading The ten most important things about addiction (part 2)
The ten most important things about addiction (part 1)
This is a version of a blog I published a few years ago, but thought it still relevant today. Doug Sellman is a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine in New Zealand. In 2010 in the journal Addiction, he attempted the difficult task of distilling the ten things you need to know about addiction from the … Continue reading The ten most important things about addiction (part 1)
Add in mutual aid for better outcomes
The majority of treatment for drug and alcohol problems is outpatient. Trying to achieve abstinence can be tough and some evidence suggests it is more likely to be the goal of clients than the aspiration of professionals for their clients. How well do clients do? This study by Gerald Cochrane and colleagues from New York looked at … Continue reading Add in mutual aid for better outcomes
Vaccinating against drug and alcohol deaths
There are 200 deaths a day related to the opiate crisis in the USA. In Scotland we have the highest number of drug-related deaths in Europe, perhaps in the world. A task force set up by the Scottish Government has recommended six interventions to tackle our crisis which we hope will make a difference. I … Continue reading Vaccinating against drug and alcohol deaths
Stuck on Methadone
Berlin, like many big cities has a heroin problem. People presenting for help are being prescribed opioid replacement therapy (ORT) - a form of medication assisted treatment (MAT) in greater numbers. That’s a good thing isn’t it? Yes, but it's not completely straightforward. A lot depends on what the professional and their patient think is … Continue reading Stuck on Methadone
Recovery Review 