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People with Intellectual Disabilities, Drug Misuse, and Addiction

A New Narrative

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Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions

Abstract

The use of licit and illicit substances is not uncommon in people with intellectual disabilities. Due to poorer cognitive abilities and social situations, people with ID may experience greater vulnerability to substance abuse and face negative social and health consequences. Research in this direction is very limited. The prevalence of various substances in the ID population, how substances are accessed by this population and specifically within ID, what category of ID people have higher addiction with drugs are some common questions that are not even answered in the existing research. The paucity of such data affects the planning and intervention to address the substance abuse problem in this population. We conducted a narrative review of articles published in the past 10 years in this area. The data was summarized, and key areas of research and intervention are identified.

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Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

DSM:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

ID:

Intellectual disability

IQ:

Intelligence quotient

SUD:

Substance use disorder

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Human Performance, Berea College, Berea, KY, USA

    Ram Lakhan

  2. Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Manoj Sharma

Authors
  1. Ram Lakhan
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  2. Manoj Sharma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ram Lakhan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, London, UK

    Vinood B. Patel

  2. Dept of Nutrition & Dietetics, King's College London, London, UK

    Victor R. Preedy

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Lakhan, R., Sharma, M. (2022). People with Intellectual Disabilities, Drug Misuse, and Addiction. In: Patel, V.B., Preedy, V.R. (eds) Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67928-6_12-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67928-6_12-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67928-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67928-6

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