Main Menu
Do you have a venue or event to promote? Get in touch to discuss your options...
Shedding A Little Light On The Matter
Over the past week my news feed has been inundated with negative comments with regards to the untimely passing of 48 year old recording artist, Whitney Houston. The media appear to have given extensive coverage of the singers troubled past and battle with drug addiction. It got me wondering, how we as a society are very ill informed of the nature of mental health problems and their association with drug addiction. It has become apparent from the rigorous questioning of my friends and acquaintances in topical debates that generally, a large proportion of people believe mental health issues to arise from substance misuse (including alcohol), when in fact it can be quite the opposite (www.mind.org).
The information centre for health and social care (2011) state that in the United Kingdom approximately 6,640 admissions to hospital with diagnosis drug related mental health and behavioural difficulties compared to the previous year of 5,809. The total number of deaths related to drug misuse in England and Wales was 1,784 in 2010, of those 77% where male with the most common cause of death revealed from toxicology reports was accidental poisoning (overdose) in both males and females (just like what happened to Whitney)
The statistics presented above, indicate a clear lack of service provision for those suffering with mental health illness and substance misuse and a general lack of understanding mental health issues and substance misuse. I'm not condoning substance misuse in any way I’m just saying that we as a society criminalize drugs, which I feel, in some manner shows a complete lack of respect or lack of recognition for addiction as an illness, because it's closely linked to mental health problems. So next time you see a Facebook status saying "Whitney deserved to die, blah blah blah" simply copy and paste this article and help to inform these ignorant people.
Have a nice day
Carl
Feature
Chat now at GayXChange.com
ORDER BY PHONE:
0800 138 50 20
