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May 24, 2005Brain Disorders and demand for alcohol, cocaine, and cigarettesRead more... Schizophrenia Advocacy
The current issue of the reseach journal "Economic Enquiry" has a paper on the issue of "Mental Illness and the Demand for Alcohol, Cocaine, and Cigarettes" - that makes for interesting reading. It draws conclusions that are of interest to anyone trying to help people with brain disorders: "Results show that individuals with a history of mental illness are 26% more likely to consume alcohol, 66% more likely to consume cocaine, and 89% more likely to consume cigarettes. This high-participation group is also price-responsive, although their price elasticities differ somewhat from those without mental illness. The results provide added justification for higher taxes and supply reduction activities. Furthermore, subsidizing the treatment of mental illness can reduce addictive consumption." As a background to the problem, it suggests that: The U.S. Surgeon General (US Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS] 1999) reports that the indirect costs of mental illness were $ 79 billion in 1990, and in 1996 the United States spent $ 69 billion on treatment of mental illness. Also, about 112,000 deaths in the United States each year are related to alcohol and illicit drug use (USDHHS 2002). In 1995, the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse was $ 276 billion. This includes the costs of health care, motor vehicle crashes, crime, lost productivity, and other adverse outcomes. Tobacco use is responsible for additional 430,000 deaths per year among adults in the United States, representing more than 5 million years of potential life lost. Direct medical costs related to smoking total at least $ 50 billion per year. Both mental illness and the consumption of addictive goods are associated with increased levels of mortality, physical illnesses, nonfatal accidents, lost income, reduced productivity, and emotional damage caused to children by afflicted parents (McGinnis and Foege 1993; USDHHS 1999). Diagnosable mental illness affects about 24% of the U.S. population in any given year, and about 43% of the population have had a diagnosable mental illness some time during their lives. There is considerable correlation between mental illness and the consumption of addictive goods. (1) The 24% of the population with a current mental illness consume about 38% of all the alcohol, 44% of all the cocaine, and 40% of all cigarettes. The 43% of the population who have had a period of mental illness sometime during their lives consume about 69% of all the alcohol, 84% of all the cocaine, and 68% of all cigarettes. Source: Economic Enquiry Abstract of Journal article: Mental Illness and the Demand for Alcohol, Cocaine, and Cigarettes
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please let me know more abt schizophrenia
Posted by: florita at May 26, 2005 01:13 AM
This is a very interesting piece. I've never thought of mental illness in concrete economic terms.
It's time we start thinking about how some in our population are costing our system by not providing enough needed services.
Moeder
Posted by: Moeder at May 30, 2005 02:31 PM
I AM BIPOLAR/SCHIZOAFFECTIVE AND HAVE NOT HAD A HOSPITILIZATION IN 15 YEARS AND I ATTRIBUTE MY SUCCESS TO CIGARETTES. I AM SEARCHING FOR A FREE NON-PROFIT LAWYER TO HELP REMOVE THE TAXES ON TOBACCO FOR THE MENTALLY ILL. AN APPEAL HAS ALREADY BEEN PLACED WITH MA. DEPT. OF REVENUE. ARE YOU OUT THERE? PLEASE HELP US.
Posted by: PAT MAHAN at July 14, 2007 06:27 PM
P.S. This is Pat Mahan who forgot to include e-mail address: pmahan1253@yahoo.com
Thanyou.
Posted by: Pat Mahan at July 15, 2007 09:21 AM
Hi, i,m a UK resident and i suffer from schizophrenia, i,m on 50mg Depixol injections every two weeks.
I must admit that i am a heavy drinker and smoke about 2 packs of cigarettes a day, i find the days to long so i drink until i can sleep away my boredom, over the years the longest that i abstained from alcohol was 16 days but usually i drink on a daily basis starting at 9 am, also the cigarettes are really hard to give up!
Posted by: Tony Crook at October 3, 2007 07:11 PM
I have bipolar disorder & gave up smoking several years ago. Ever since then, though, I've been chewing I don't even know how much nicotine gum. Supposedly, while nicotine is addictive, the physically harmful part of smoking is all the tar & carcino-glop you inhale.
So I'm all for the gum (I hear that the patch is good too) except for one BIG problem: nico gum costs more than cigarettes!
Maybe if more people realized that it's a really effective psychotropic, there'd be some way to bring the price down.
Posted by: anna keller at October 28, 2007 12:00 AM
I have bipolar disorder & gave up smoking several years ago. Ever since then, though, I've been chewing I don't even know how much nicotine gum. Supposedly, while nicotine is addictive, the physically harmful part of smoking is all the tar & carcino-glop you inhale.
So I'm all for the gum (I hear that the patch is good too) except for one BIG problem: nico gum costs more than cigarettes!
Maybe if more people realized that it's a really effective psychotropic, there'd be some way to bring the price down.
Posted by: anna keller at October 28, 2007 12:01 AM
hi,
i have schoprenia and smoke like a train........i can't stop! i now have copd on oxegen and no meds help!!!!!!!!
i to am drinking and taking meds.....i can't stand this anymore.....but yes....lower taxes on cigs for the mentally ill...we r sick.....and pay for everything with little to no income! why hurt us even more?
Posted by: karen thomas at November 11, 2007 05:19 PM