Substance Misuse, Emotional Disturbance, and Dual Diagnosis in a Meal-Line Population of Mixed Ethnicity

This study investigated the rates of severe substance misuse, severe emotional disturbance, and dual diagnosis in a meal-line population of mixed ethnicity, 75% of whom were homeless and the remainder near-homeless. Alcohol and/or drug use was reported by 93% and severe substance misuse was found in 39% of the population. Severe mental illness was found in 54% of the population. Both conditions, dual diagnosis, was found in 29% of the cases. A cluster analysis of the total population found three types: those with dual diagnosis (24.27%), those with serious substance misuse and personality disorder (39.3%), and those with neither severe disorder (37.3%). The ethnicity of the homeless individual was very weakly, if at all, associated with the disorders.