HANOVER, N.H. - Children in junior high school who watch lots of movies showing alcohol use are more likely to try drinking than those who aren't exposed to those films, Dartmouth Medical School researchers said in a symposium on substance abuse.

The symposium touched on scientific research, public policy and personal stories on addictions.

Dr. James Sargent, who spoke at Friday's symposium - the first one at the school devoted to substance abuse - said his research showed that middle school students in Vermont and New Hampshire who watched lots of movie scenes depicting alcohol use were more than three times as likely to try drinking than those with little exposure.

Although previous studies had looked at whether advertising affected teenager's drinking behavior - with conflicting results - no one had ever looked at the impact of the entertainment industry, Sargent said. Drinking during the early teenage years is associated with alcohol abuse later on.

Other conclusions reached by researchers are that patients who participate in integrated treatment for their substance-abuse problems and mental illness have a far greater chance of being able to lead satisfying lives than those who don't; and people with a psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia may have a biological predisposition to substance-abuse disorders.

On the first point, Dr. Robert Drake said his research team has found that drug and mental health treatment should be integrated for people suffering from a substance-abuse problem and a mental illness. After three years, more than half of people receiving integrated treatment saw their illness go into stable remission, while only 15 percent of those who got nonintegrated treatment made the same progress.

Drake also said that about 50 percent of people with a mental illness also have a substance-abuse disorder that makes it more likely they will relapse, fail to take their medications, be hospitalized or suffer diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.

"Public health should be the driving force in all our coordinated efforts," he said. "Addiction is our antagonist - not addicted people."

Another speaker was a physician in recovery. Dr. Mark Logan, coordinator of oncology programs at DHMC, read from the obituary of a physician friend and colleague who died at age 31 of an apparent accidental drug overdose.

One out of 10 medical professionals will have an addiction in their lifetime, a rate equal to that of the general population, Logan said.

"Medical professionals - and it's not just doctors - are surrounded by a conspiracy of silence," he said. The good news is that health care professionals have estimated recovery rates of 90 percent and are highly motivated to get better, Logan said.

back | to top |