Novel findings concerning the experience of anxiety and depression in community-based methamphetamine smokers
A pioneering study amongst more than 700 community-based people in rural and metropolitan Victoria who regularly smoke methamphetamine found that 60% of this cohort reported experiencing anxiety and/or depression. This result is noticeably higher than in the general population, where 13% typically report experiencing anxiety, and 10% have reported experiencing depression.
The study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, led by Zoe Duncan and Dr Keith Sutton from Monash University School of Rural Health, used data from the VMAX study which regularly surveys people who use methamphetamine in metropolitan Melbourne and rural Victoria.
The aim of the VMAX study is to identify the natural course of methamphetamine and other drug use, including periods of dependence and abstinence and relapse, and the health (such as drug treatment) and social (such as major life events) factors that drive such change.
The VMAX study, a partnership between the Burnet Institute and Monash University School of Rural Health, also found an increased likelihood of depression amongst participants who were unemployed, methamphetamine-dependent, and reported poor physical health. Being female was associated with increased odds of experiencing anxiety, but not depression. Interestingly, living in a large rural town or identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander was associated with lower odds of experiencing depression. These last findings are not well understood and require further investigation.
According to Ms Duncan, the study is an important addition to the often-neglected area of mental health amongst people who use methamphetamine.
“The VMAX study is unique in its ability to provide real insights into those who smoke methamphetamine in rural and metro areas. In this case, we have been able to identify previously unknown high prevalence of anxiety and depression which can assist health care systems to provide appropriate intervention policies; for example, integrated models of care where co-occurring anxiety or depression, and methamphetamine use are treated simultaneously,” she said.
Read the full paper in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry: Correlates of anxiety and depression in a community cohort of people who smoke methamphetamine.