Non-substance-related mental disorders commonly seen in overdose deaths

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

Amanda T. Dinwiddie, MPH, of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the CDC State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System to describe the characteristics of individuals in 43 states and the District of Columbia who died from an unintentional or undetermined drug overdose and who had MHD.

The researchers found that in 2022, 21.9% of individuals who died from drug overdoses had a reported MHD, most commonly depressive (12.9%), anxiety (9.4%), and bipolar (5.9%) disorders. Eight in 10 overdose deaths involved opioids, primarily illicit fentanyl. Compared to those without a MHD, higher percentages of deaths among decedents with a MHD involved antidepressants and benzodiazepines (no MHD: 3.3 and 8.5%, respectively; with a MHD: 9.7 and 15.3%, respectively).

Nearly a quarter of MHD decedents had recently (within one month of death) had at least one potential opportunity for intervention (for example, approximately one in ten received treatment for a substance use disorder and one in ten visited an emergency department or urgent care unit).

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

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