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SMAD. Revista eletrônica saúde mental álcool e drogas

versão On-line ISSN 1806-6976

SMAD, Rev. Eletrônica Saúde Mental Álcool Drog. (Ed. port.) vol.10 no.2 Ribeirão Preto ago. 2014

http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.1806-6976.v10i2p-50 

EDITORIAL
DOI: 10.11606/issn.1806-6976.v10i2p-50

 

The SMAD and producing knowledge in the area of Mental Health, Alcohol and Drugs

 

 

 

In today's society mental health related issues are gaining importance in research and discussions. It is known that, despite fragmentation, sometimes used for didactic ends for biological, psychological, social, political and economic issues, human experience forms part of the complex and permanent relationship between these dimensions.

When the health care field is looked at analytically, albeit subtly, understanding the subjects' experience is constructed within scenarios that are difficult for the researcher and for those professionals directly involved in caring for health to understand. Faced with this challenge, scientific knowledge occupies itself within the articulated search for knowledge in a variety of areas, in view of the complexity of the phenomena, making scientific studies more complex, increasingly requiring methodologies that are closer to the reality of human experience.

Regarding the mental health area and psychoactive substance use, there is a way of profiling discoveries that demonstrates both the scale of this content and the obscurity which still separates the assertiveness of political, educational and health care actions. Coordinated or complementary contributions from diverse areas of knowledge are important in generating knowledge and practice that provide better conditions for organizing health care and the spaces where it is provided, as well as the base for public policies and strategies that result in the wellbeing of the individuals in the communities. This need has always been the foundation of the SMAD mission since it was founded and throughout its existence the journal has been committed to scientific publications that contribute to constructing knowledge on issues concerning mental health, alcohol and other drugs.

This issue shows the evolution of drug laws in Brazil and Portugal, with the authors' reflecting on and comparing recent legislation in these countries; aspects of spirituality and religiosity in alcohol and/or drug users; the opinions of young trauma victims on public policies controlling drug and alcohol use; describing and analyzing the consumption profiles of alcohol and illegal drugs among adolescent pupils in a Brazilian state capital; comparing conceptions of mental illness among professionals operating in emergency mental health care services; identifying the prevalence of common mental disorders and alcohol and tobacco consumption among nursing students in a public university in the Western Amazon, Brazil; and a review of the evolution of care practices for those with psychological disorders in the city of natal.

It is believed that the topics presented in this and in future SMAD issues can extend reflection and drive knowledge production, researcher involvement and rethinking the actions of professionals working in the field of mental health, alcohol and other psychoactive substances.

Edilaine Cristina da Silva Gherardi-Donato

Associate Editor, SMAD, Revista Eletrônica Saúde Mental Álcool e Drogas, and Associate Professor, Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brail, e-mail: nane@eerp.usp.br.