1st Edition

Introduction to Mental Health Substance Use

By David B. Cooper Copyright 2011

    Mental health-substance use is a complex interrelation, with equally complex implications for individuals and their families, health professionals and society. Although its international recognition as an issue of critical importance is growing, clear guidance for professionals on mental health-substance use and its treatment is hard to find. The Mental Health-Substance Use series has been written to address this need, concentrating on concerns, dilemmas and concepts that impact on the life and well-being of affected individuals and those close to them, and the future direction of practice, education, research, services, interventions, and treatment. This first book outlines the specific health issues, experiential aspects, treatment options and wider implications of mental health-substance use, as well as defining the field, through contributions from international experts and practitioners. This Introduction and the subsequent volumes will challenge concepts and stimulate debate, exploring all aspects of the development in treatment, intervention and care responses, and the adoption of research-led best practice. They are essential reading for mental health and substance use professionals, students and educators.

    Setting the scene. Learning to Learn. What is in a name? The search for appropriate and consistent terminology. The mental health-substance use journey. A matter of human rights: people’s right to health care for mental health-substance use. The importance of physical health assessment. The experience of illness. The psychological impact of serious illness. Working with people with mental health-substance use. Skills, capabilities and professional development: a response framework for mental health-substance use. Attitudes and brief training intervention: a practical approach. Ethics: mental health-substance use. Brain injury, mental health-substance use — Christ Holmwood. Heatwave, mental health-substance use.

    Biography

    David B. Cooper