Mental illnesses have grown worldwide and are already among the leading causes of disability in the 21st century. Especially depression, seen as a factor at the highest risk of suicide worldwide. World Mental Health Day is celebrated on October 10.

Mental health means being well with yourself and others, in addition to accepting life's events, controlling emotions and recognizing personal limits. However, the use of alcoholic beverages and drugs can cause harm to this well-being.

In the case of alcohol, for example, damage can occur in memory and increase as the dose increases. When too much...

Listas de passos com ações recomendáveis para facilitar a cessação do uso de drogas são muito utilizadas, e com sucesso, por entidades como os Alcoólicos Anônimos, Narcóticos Anônimos, entre outros.

Com enfoque na prevenção, propomos uma lista de 12 medidas, que devem ser aplicadas pelos pais, para prevenir a entrada dos seus filhos adolescentes no mundo das drogas lícitas e ilícitas. São medidas baseadas nos dados atuais e na nossa experiência do atendimento de crianças e adolescentes. Sabemos que, depois que uma pessoa se torna dependente de alguma droga, é muito difícil reverter. Logo...

As stay-at-home orders began in some U.S. states as a strategy to mitigate the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Nielsen reported a 54% increase in national alcohol sales for the week ended March 21, 2020, compared to 1 year earlier; Online sales increased by 262% compared to 2019 (1).

Three weeks later, the World Health Organization warned that alcohol use during the pandemic could exacerbate health concerns and risky behaviors (2).

This study examines changes in alcohol use at the individual level and the consequences associated with adult alcohol use in the U.S., as...

Dr. João Paulo Lotufo, friend and partner of Freemind and ISSUP Brazil, in his column on USP radio, tells us about the danger of electronic cigarettes indoors and warns that young Americans are the ones who consume the most, according to studies, and do not consider this consumption harmful.

But that's not true, since e-cigarette emissions are not harmless and calling them steam is purposely misleading. Although the smoky snags of the electronic cigarette are not exactly smoke, the term steam usually brings to mind an innocuous cloud of water.

A study published in the United States on the...

During the 6th Freemind International Congress, held in December 2019 in the city of Águas de Lindóia/SP, Friar Hans Stapel – Founder of Fazenda da Esperança and Consultant of the Pontifical Council for the Laity –  shared with the congressmen his life experience and the importance of the family in his education and also spoke a little about his work in the recovery of drug users:

The older I get, the more I see the importance of family. I remember my very poor childhood in post-war Germany and one day I wanted to have an ice cream with my friends in a newly opened Italian ice cream parlor...

When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, her baby also drinks.

Alcohol is bad for the baby: the baby is too young to drink!

The range of damage caused to the foetus due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy is called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Alcohol can harm the baby's brain, heart, eyes and other organs.

Children with FASD may have difficulty learning, controlling how they act, and making friends. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause permanent damage to the fetus. These nine months last a lifetime.

Let's keep them alcohol-free. FASD affects all of us, but it is 100...

Famílias, como prevenir? O diálogo começa em casa. Conversando com Maria de Fátima Padin

Em seu canal do YouTube, Drogas e Sociedade, Gleuda Apolinário recebe a Dra. Maria de Fátima Padin para uma conversa sobre como prevenir o uso de drogas nas famílias através do diálogo.

Durante 37 minutos, Dra. Maria de Fátima falou de sua experiência e deixou muitas dicas importantes de como os pais devem agir diante das situações que podem se apresentar devido ao uso de drogas.

Acompanhe abaixo um resumo do que a doutora falou sobre família, prevenção e diálogo:

“Existem hoje em termos de...

De 18 a 25 de Setembro – Semana Nacional do Trânsito

Álcool, drogas e direção: perceba o risco… Proteja a vida!

A Semana Nacional de Trânsito (SNT), conforme disposto no art. 326 do Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (CTB), é comemorada anualmente entre os dias 18 e 25 de setembro.

Ações em todo o país são realizadas pelos órgãos do Sistema Nacional de Trânsito com o objetivo de conscientizar todos os envolvidos, sejam eles motoristas, passageiros, motociclistas, ciclistas ou pedestres.

O tema definido oficialmente pelo Conselho Nacional de Trânsito (CONTRAN) para a Campanha Educativa de...

Neste 15 de setembro, Dia Nacional de Prevenção e combate à Depressão, precisamos falar sobre a relação da adolescência, da depressão, do uso de drogas e do suicídio entre nossos filhos e amigos.

O suicídio é a segunda causa de morte em jovens dos 15 aos 29 anos de idade. Em mulheres, é a principal causa de mortalidade na faixa etária dos 15 aos 19 anos. Apesar de ser o desfecho trágico de um conjunto de fatores – é equivocado e simplista associar o suicídio a uma única causa – estudos mostram que quase 100% das vítimas apresentavam pelo menos um transtorno psiquiátrico, especialmente a depre...

Neste mês de setembro, salvar vidas é falar sobre Prevenção ao Suicídio.

Para o Freemind e ISSUP Brasil, salvar vidas é a nossa missão e o caminho para isso é a Prevenção.

Nossos jovens e até mesmo nossas crianças estão cada dia mais vulneráveis a ideações suicidas e tentativas de suicídio.

Precisamos estar atentos aos sinais. Por isso, compartilhamos um material da Campanha Setembro Amarelo 2020, da ABP e CFM voltado aos pais, responsáveis e educadores.

Carta aos pais, responsáveis e educadores

Como sabemos, os jovens estão suscetíveis às mudanças fisiológicas que são características...

Quais os direitos das crianças?

Um deles é o direito a brincar, uma vez que o brincar se apresenta como ferramenta essencial para a sua saúde durante seu crescimento, já que ela se descobre na brincadeira, bem como apreende o mundo de forma lúdica, vivenciando as experiências de forma adequada à sua idade. A criança que brinca constrói uma estrutura psicológica e emocional resiliente e muito mais preparada para enfrentar os desafios do mundo adulto no futuro.

Já é comprovado que grande porcentagem das crianças que se encontram em situação de vulnerabilidade busca nas ruas atividades que lhe...

National and international drug prevention networks, community leaders and strong community coalitions are the key to changing public attitudes and reducing the availability of illicit drugs worldwide. Some effective tactics include promoting drug demand reduction principles and raising awareness of the social consequences of drug abuse and addiction. Below you will learn about many other strategies that have been implemented and have successfully reduced drug use from a global perspective to the site.

How can we prevent drug use around the world?

- We need to make people aware that drug...

Do you know what Prevention Science is?

The partners of Freemind and ISSUP Brasil, Rodrigo Flaire – State Coordinator of Drug Policies of São Paulo – and Claudemir dos Santos – Technical Director of Prevention of COED-SP, in this video, explain and give examples of what is and how prevention science can be used to make decisions based on scientific evidence. Here's what they say:

Science is a branch of knowledge of empirical* nature, logical and systematic, in which it is possible to validate and demonstrate the data and results, with methodology.

In the science of prevention, despite a...

According to a new study,unlicensed marijuana dispensaries in California are opening in black and Latino neighborhoods at a disproportionately high rate, following a similar pattern taken by alcohol and tobacco retailers.

Researchers say this trend could worsen existing health disparities for minority and poor communities because highly potent products sold in unlicensed dispensaries are less likely to be tested for safety, have no safe packaging for children, and are often cheaper than highly regulated products found in licensed dispensaries.

The study also found that California...

Dr. Zila M. Sanchez, Camila L. Oliveira, Dr. Ronaldo Laranjeira and Dr. Raul Caetano had a Letter to the Editor published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, where they talk about cases of poisoning and deaths from diethylene glycol present in Brazilian craft beers. Read the letter in full:

Dear editor:

Since December 30, 2019, Brazil has had several cases of intoxication due to beer intake (State Department of Health, 2020a), the alcoholic beverage most consumed by Brazilians (World Health Organization, 2018). An ongoing investigation, coordinated by the Center for Strategic...

The risks of marijuana use and emerging tobacco products during adolescence will be the subject of the next webinar of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM). Next Friday, August 28, the eveof The National Day to Combat Smoking, the event will be held through the CFM YouTube channel, promoting an online debate. The meeting will target doctors and lawyers.

Organized by the Cfm's Lawful and Ilic drug control commission, the webinar will also discuss the challenges faced to control tobacco use and devices such as electronic cigarettes, hookah and heated tobacco, as well as the losses associated...

Será que a legalização e comercialização do uso de cannabis aumentam a incidência e prevalência de psicose?

Há uma tendência mundial política de liberalização e comercialização da cannabis. Uruguai legalizou a cannabis recreativa em 2013, assim como o Canadá em 2018, assim como 10 estados dos EUA. Outros países descriminalizaram o medicamento. Na Holanda, a cannabis pode ser comprada em cafés designados, e em Portugal, a polícia encaminha aqueles que regularmente usam cannabis para aconselhamento. Os psiquiatras desempenharam um papel proeminente no debate sobre as consequências para a saúde...

Father Haroldo Rahm lived and died at the age of 100 opening doors or building bridges to save lives. He was freemind's great inspiration and spiritual mentor. He left a legacy of living and written works that made him immortal. In his book "Every Day - 365 - Drugs - Prevention - Solutions" tells us about putting a touch of eternity in our life.

"There are moments, in the succession of hours and days, when life itself is made song... A silence. One word. A little gesture. A simple look or the timbre of the voice.

It's a letter or a phone call we got. The poetry of the rising sun or the...

Discussions on the decriminalization of drug possession for personal consumption are increasing, including an extraordinary appeal still pending judgment in the Supreme Court on this subject (RExt. 635.659).

However, it is frightening to see a member of the Public Prosecutor's Office openly defending in an article published on a legal website, not the release of the drug for his own use, with which, by the way, I do not agree, but that the trade or even the free delivery of drugs, between adult and capable parties, does not generate injury or concrete danger of injury to the protected legal...