Journal of psychoactive drugs
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J Psychoactive Drugs · Jan 2013
The role of mental illness in alcohol abuse and prescription drug misuse: gender-specific analysis of college students.
The present study examined whether and how collegians' misuse of prescription drugs and alcohol abuse are associated with mental illness and with a lack of mental health care. Nationally representative data were derived from 5,241 full-time American college students who completed the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. We observed the presence of alcohol abuse/dependence and the nonmedical use of prescription drugs to be associated with relatively serious mental illness and with lack of health care. In pursuing gender-specific results, we found that the association between alcohol abuse and mental illness was stronger among females than males.
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This theoretical article presents and applies the theories of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. The article takes as its starting point the observation that current biomedical, social and psychological research does not provide a coherent view of the nature of addiction and there is a great deal of controversy in the field. The material philosophy of Deleuze provides the opportunity to introduce new ideas and bridge the gaps between different theories and approaches. ⋯ Addiction alters the production of desire and life itself begins to be reduced to alcohol, drugs or a specific mode of behavior. Recovery from addictions is connected with the changes in life that offer subjects an open future. A recovering body must increase its capacity to be affected and be capable of creating new biopsychosocial connections of desire.