http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Eugene King ran away from home at the age of 16, the start of a lifelong pattern of drug abuse, crime and incarceration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mental-illness-frequent-cell-bars.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:50:01 EST news284380431 Once heavy drinking impairs function, a variety of punishment-related threats may motivate people to stop drinking: spouses may threaten divorce, employers may threaten job loss, and courts threaten drunk drivers with losing their driver's license or incarceration. In the face of these threats, many alcohol abusers refrain from drinking, but relapse is very common when the threats of punishment fade, particularly when exposed to alcohol-associated environments (contexts). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-rats-humans.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:50:16 EST news278765410 Psychiatric disorders are prevalent among current and former inmates of correctional institutions, but what has been less clear is whether incarceration causes these disorders or, alternatively, whether inmates have these problems before they enter prison. A study co-authored by Jason Schnittker, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, shows that many of the most common psychiatric disorders found among former inmates, including impulse control disorders, emerge in childhood and adolescence and, therefore, predate incarceration. Yet, incarceration seems to lead to some mood related psychiatric disorders, such as major depression, which have important implications for what happens to inmates after their release. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-link-incarceration-psychiatric-disorders.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:54:41 EST news277552475 Mental health experts from Meharry Medical College School of Medicine have released the first comprehensive report on the correlation between the incarceration of African American males and substance abuse and other health problems in the United States. Published in Frontiers in Psychology on the 12th of November, the report looks at decades of data concerning the African American population rates of incarceration and subsequent health issues. The authors conclude that the moral and economic costs of current racial disparities in the judicial system are fundamentally avoidable, especially if more resources are spent on education and treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-systematic-incarceration-african-american-males.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 11 Nov 2012 18:00:01 EST news271871305 Prison inmates frequently have a strong history of drug use and misuse, especially during the time prior to incarceration, and drugs often are the driving force behind the offense itself. New research, published in BioMed Central's newly launched open access journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, shows that ex-offenders struggle to remain drug free after release from prison and identifies factors that can help them succeed. Interviews with former inmates show that they themselves recognize that returning to former living environments (former friends and an easy access to drugs) is a strong trigger for drug use and overdose. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-drug-overdose-ex-prisoners-view.html Addiction Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:14:55 EST news251007283