Question

What is the article Failure to Treat Tobacco Use in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Settings: A form of Harm Reduction about. Please review this article and give a summary about it ?

Answer 1

• Harm reduction strategies aim to replace a highly unhealthy behavior with one that is considerably less unhealthy. Some mental health and addiction treatment providers have rationalized that their failure to treat tobacco dependence is a form of harm reduction in that their clients' tobacco use is viewed as a healthier alternative to alcohol or illicit drug abuse, suicidal ideation, or other self-harm behaviors.
• Failure to treat tobacco dependence in mental health and addiction treatment settings ignores clinical practice treatment guidelines and brings real liability risks. Tobacco use is not a form of harm reduction and needs to be a treatment priority in mental health and addiction treatment settings to improve the health and well being of individuals with psychiatric and addictive disorders.
• The assertion by treatment providers is that if patients were to quit their tobacco use, they would relapse to other substances of abuse, have a recurrence of depression, engage in cutting or other self-mutilation behaviors, attempt suicide, and/or exhibit some other form of decompensation. Since tobacco is a legal drug, its effects on the individual and significant others are viewed as less consequential than illicit substances of abuse. Its important that tobacco use should also be treated seriously like any other substance abuse disorder so that people quit it and also not resort to any other drugs or substances as an alternative.