Simultaneous cocaine, alcohol use linked to suicide risk

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/bu-sca040716.php

Public Release: 8-Apr-2016
Simultaneous cocaine, alcohol use linked to suicide risk
Brown University

In a general sense, medical studies support the popular intuition -- a staple of movies and literature -- that suicidal behavior and substance misuse are linked. But the relationship between the two is not so simple. A new study of hundreds of suicidal emergency department (ED) patients from around the U.S. found that the significance of the link varied with age, gender and race. Across the board, however, the use of cocaine and alcohol together was a red flag.

"One unexpected finding was that, when examined independently, alcohol use had no significant association and cocaine use had a borderline significant association," wrote authors of the study in the journal Crisis. "However, reporting both alcohol misuse and cocaine use was significantly associated with a future suicide attempt."

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tags: drug use, drug abuse