Mental health and substance use in Europe: initial steps towards a common European approach
Abstract Background and aims: Comorbid substance use and other mental health disorders contribute to more than one million years lived with disability in Europe according to the Global Burden of Disease study. They require a comprehensive approach, yet, in Europe, there is considerable variability in the treatment of these patients. The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) is committed to address comorbidity in Europe by providing evidence of epidemiological situation and approaches to interventions and supporting a common European approach. Methods: The methods used to support the promotion of a European approach to comorbidity were the following: a) setting up an EUDA Advisory Board on dual disorders, consisting of international experts guiding and overseeing the EUDA efforts in this field, b) the introduction of a voluntary item on dual disorders in the European data collection on people entering drug treatment (Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI) and c) a survey mapping existing care models in Europe was conducted.
Authors
- Linda Montanari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7681-5933)
- Charlotte Migchels (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4942-490X)
- Konstantinos Kokkolis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6854-7692)
- Francina Fonseca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0779-6545)
- Marta Torrens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6222-4761)
- Inês Hasselberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4602-7869)
- Erikas Simonavičius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6323-3659)
- Marica Ferri
- Marc Auriacombe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8938-8683)
- Andrej Kastelič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4219-4266)
- Narayanan Subramanian
- Alessandra Bò
- Tore Willy Lie
- Joan I. Mestre-Pintó (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0387-9375)
- Liesbeth Vandam
- Cinta Mancheño
- Alexander Baldacchino
- Gabriele Fischer
- Anita White
- Melpomeni Minerva Malliori
Institutions
- European Medicines Agency (NL)
- European Union (BE)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- Université de Bordeaux (FR)
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES)
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
- Health Service Executive (IE)
- Red de Investigación en Actividades Preventivas y Promoción de la Salud (ES)
- University of Inland Norway (NO)
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (BE)
- Parc de Salut (ES)
- Centre Hospitalier Charles Perrens (FR)
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
- Universidad de Huelva (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine
- Published
- 2026-09-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2026.10212
- Primary Topic
- Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00