Re: harm reduction in addiction treatment and mental health

Working Paper Discussions

harm reduction in addiction treatment and mental health

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Anonymous 08-14-2009, 10:26 AM
I am intrigued by your research because I am also interested in harm reduction and abstinence based models in mental health as well as addiction. Since I am an addiction treatment professional I have been interested in both abstinence based and harm reduction models. In NYS where I work we are attempting to treat nicotine addiction with our other clients and have some difficulty in getting clients to comply with the quit smoking rule in all of our residential services. No-one to my knowledge has ever advocated switching to snuff. I would also think that snuff might be a better alternative for treating other MH disorders like schizophrenia. What do you think?

Re: harm reduction in addiction treatment and mental health

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admin 08-14-2009, 12:45 PM
If you've read our website, you can probably guess. Of course, we think that any noncombusting alternative to obtaining nicotine is good whether for "normal" smokers or for those with other conditions. It is worth trying with schizophrenics and we would be interested in any progress. The challenge would be, and electronic cigarettes might better meet this need, is satisfying the accompanying rituals of smoking. Even with ecigarettes, schizophrenics might miss the time marking aspects of the cigarettes being used up.

However, these caveats are worth ignoring to see if any of these alternatives take, because if they do, there is such a reward in the drop in risks, not to mention the immediate rewards of easier breathing, cleaner feeling mouth, no smells, etc..

Good luck and thanks for writing.