Poor drug taking sends people into crisis

In the U.K. people who might previously have been admitted to a psychiatric hospital are now often referred to Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) services who decide whether to treat people themselves or send them on to hospital. CRHTs are an expensive service so finding out what factors make people likely to be referred to them is quite important. One factor that leads people's mental health to go downhill is not taking their medication but there has been little research into how this affects referrals to CRHTs so far. A team of researchers from Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust and Newcastle University looked at this issue in a study of 172 referrals to a CRHT. They found that 30% of the referrals had not taken their medication properly in the last month. These people were significantly more likely to have a dual diagnosis - i.e. a drug problem as well as a mental-health problem.

Sreenath, San ... [et al] - Medication adherence in crisis? Journal of Mental Health October 2010, 19(5), 470-474