Non-substance-related mental health disorders commonly seen in overdose decedents

More than one in five people who died of drug overdose in 2022 (21.9%) had a reported non-substance-related mental health disorder (MHD), according to research published in the Aug. 29 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Amanda T. Dinwiddie, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the CDC State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System to describe characteristics of persons in 43 states and the District of Columbia who died of unintentional or undetermined-intent drug overdose and had any MHD.

The researchers found that in 2022, 21.9% of persons who died of drug overdose had a reported MHD, including most frequently depressive (12.9%), anxiety (9.4%), and bipolar (5.9%) disorders. Eight in 10 overdose deaths involved opioids, primarily illegally manufactured fentanyls. Compared with those without an MHD, higher proportions of deaths among decedents with an MHD involved antidepressants and benzodiazepines (no MHD: 3.3 and 8.5%, respectively; with MHD: 9.7 and 15.3%, respectively).

Nearly one fourth of decedents with an MHD had at least one recent (within one month of death) potential opportunity for intervention (e.g., about one in 10 were undergoing substance use disorder treatment and one in 10 visited an emergency department or urgent care facility).

“Expanding efforts to identify and address co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (e.g., integrated screening and treatment) and strengthen treatment retention and harm reduction services could save lives,” the authors write.

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