Governor Hochul Launches $102 Million Effort to Expand Care and Treatment for New Yorkers with Serious Mental Illness

$92 Million to Develop 26 Teams Providing "Critical Time Intervention" for Discharged Patients Receiving Mental Health Care Services $10 Million to Expand 'Safe Options Support' Initiative Which Has Successfully Moved Nearly 390 Long-Term Homeless New Yorkers Into Stable Housing ...

Governor Hochul Launches Expansion of School-Based Mental Health Clinics to Combat Youth Mental Health Crisis

Governor Hochul announces $20 Million in Start Up Funding and Launches New Process to Expand School-Based Mental Health Clinics; Governor’s Budget Funds Clinics for Every Single School That Wants One Applications Now Open for Governor's New Youth Mental Health Advisory Board, Where Young New...

Only 1 in 5 U.S. Adults With Opioid Use Disorder Received Medications to Treat It in 2021

In 2021, an estimated 2.5 million people aged 18 years or older in the U.S. had opioid use disorder in the past year, yet only 1 in 5 of them (22%) received medications to treat it, according to a new study. Some groups were substantially less likely to receive medication, including Black adults,...

Marijuana and Hallucinogen Use, Binge Drinking Reached Historic Highs Among Adults 35 to 50

Past-year use of marijuana and hallucinogen use by adults 35 to 50 years old continued a long-term upward trajectory to reach all-time highs in 2022, according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study, an annual survey of substance use behaviors and attitudes of adults 19 to 60 years old....

Higher Buprenorphine Doses Associated With Improved Retention in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder

Individuals with opioid use disorder who were prescribed a lower buprenorphine dose were 20% more likely to discontinue treatment than those on a higher dose, according to a study of patients prescribed buprenorphine in Rhode Island from 2016 to 2020, as fentanyl became widely available. The...

Telehealth Supports Retention in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder

Starting buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder through telehealth was associated with an increased likelihood of staying in treatment longer compared to starting treatment in a non-telehealth setting, according to a new study analyzing Medicaid data from 2019-2020 in Kentucky and Ohio....

Reported Drug Use Among Adolescents Continued to Hold Below Pre-Pandemic Levels in 2023

The percentage of adolescents reporting they used any illicit substances in 2023 continued to hold steady below the pre-pandemic levels reported in 2020, with 10.9% of eighth graders, 19.8% of 10th graders, and 31.2% of 12th graders reporting any illicit drug use in the past year, according...

Guide to Equity Terminology: Promoting Behavioral Health Equity through the Words We Use

In the field of behavioral health, words are often our primary tools. We don’t have hammers and saws, thermometers and stethoscopes, or brushes and palettes. Words are powerful tools and using them with intention is central to our craft. “I’ll never forget, years ago, when I was asked to...

Overdose Deaths Increased in Pregnant and Postpartum Women From Early 2018 to Late 2021

Drug overdose deaths rose markedly between January to June 2018 and July to December 2021 among 10- to 44-year-old girls and women who were pregnant or pregnant within the previous 12 months, according to a new study by researchers at National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National...

Men Died of Overdose at 2-3 Times Greater a Rate Than Women in the U.S. In 2020-2021

Men were significantly more vulnerable than women to overdose deaths involving opioid and stimulant drugs in 2020-2021, according to a new study analyzing death records data from across the United States. The study found that men had a 2–3 times greater rate of overdose mortality from opioids...