Treating and screening for non-substance-related mental health disorders could help drive down overdoses, a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
The study, published Thursday, found that of the 63,424 people who died from drug overdoses across 43 states and Washington, D.C. in 2022, 22 percent had a separate mental health disorder. Analyzing data from the CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, the researchers found that the most common disorders were depression, anxiety and bipolar.
The authors noted the rates of mental health disorders are likely underestimated.
