In psychiatry, harm reduction has been used for a long time

Prof. Piotr Galecki:

• Harm reduction in psychiatry has been used for a long time.
• The first was the methadone treatment program, used to treat drug addiction.
• In modern psychiatry, we also talk about harm reduction methods when treating nicotinism and alcohol addiction.
• The ICD-11 classification abandons the division into 3-stage categories, that is, any entity under the section on mental disorders is a mental disorder. So it includes addictions to nicotine or caffeine.
• The best treatment for nicotine addiction is a combination of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.
• Harm reduction finds its justification in the treatment of nicotinism, although here therapists have different opinions. However, there are those comorbidities [serious mental disorders] in nicotine addicts that do not allow them to abruptly quit cigarettes. In such cases, harm reduction is worth considering.