Rate of Substance Abuse, Smoking and Drinking High Among Psychotic Disorders Patients: Study

People with psychotic disorders have higher rates of smoking, drinking and substance abuse, a latest study claims.

The researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, and the University of Southern California, studied roughly 20,000 people.

The authors examined the smoking, drinking and drug abuse habits of the participants. Of these 9,142 were psychiatric patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder - an illness characterised by psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, and mood disorders such as depression. 

Over 10,000 healthy people without psychotic disorders were examined for nicotine use, heavy drinking and marijuana use and recreational drug use, the researchers wrote in a press release.

The results showed that 30 percent of the severe psychiatric disorder patients were involved in binge drinking. Whereas, the rate of binge drinking in the overall US population is just 8 percent, the researchers explained.

More than 75 percent of those with mental illness smoked regularly compared with 33 percent of smokers in the control group. 

Around 50 percent of the people with psychotic problems were found to be heavy users of marijuana. While just 18 percent of the general population smoked pot.

According to the study findings, half of those with mental illness used other illicit drugs, while the rate of recreational drug use in the general population was found to be 12 percent.

The study authors expressed concerns over the results as those with psychotic disorders are prone to early death due to substance abuse, smoking and drinking.

"These patients tend to pass away much younger, with estimates ranging from 12 to 25 years earlier than individuals in the general population," said first author Sarah M Hartz, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University.

"They don't die from drug overdoses or commit suicide - the kinds of things you might suspect in severe psychiatric illness. They die from heart disease and cancer, problems caused by chronic alcohol and tobacco use," Hartz said.

The study is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.