Tag: Substance abuse

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Desalination plants in the Middle East are increasingly vulnerable

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here.

As the conflict in Iran has escalated, a crucial resource is under fire: the desalination technology that supplies water across much of the region.

In early March, Iran’s foreign minister accused the US of attacking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and disrupting the water supply to nearly 30 villages. (The US denied responsibility.) In the weeks since, both Bahrain and Kuwait have reported damage to desalination plants and blamed Iran, though Iran also denied responsibility.

In late March, President Donald Trump threatened the destruction of “possibly all desalinization plants” in Iran if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened. Since then, he’s escalated his threats against Iran, warning of plans to attack other crucial civilian infrastructure like power plants and bridges.

Countries in the Middle East, particularly the Gulf states, rely on the technology to turn salt water into fresh water for farming, industry, and—crucially—drinking. The mounting attacks and threats to date highlight just how vital the industry is to the region—a situation made even more precarious by rising temperatures and extreme weather driven by climate change.

Right now, 83% of the Middle East is under extremely high water stress, says Liz Saccoccia, a water security associate at the World Resources Institute. Future projections suggest that’s going to increase to about 100% by 2050, she adds: “This is a continuing trend, and it’s getting worse, not better.”

Here’s a look at desalination technology in the Middle East and what wartime threats to the critical infrastructure could mean for people in the region. 

A vital resource

Desalination technology has helped provide water supplies in the Middle East since the early 20th century and became widespread in the 1960s and 1970s.

There are two major categories of desalination plants. Thermal plants use heat to evaporate water, leaving salt and other impurities behind. The vapor can then be condensed into usable fresh water. The alternative is membrane-based technology like reverse osmosis, which pushes water through membranes that have tiny pores—so small that salt can’t get through.

Early desalination plants in the Middle East were the first type, burning fossil fuels to evaporate water, leaving the salt behind. This technique is incredibly energy-intensive, and over time, processes that rely on filters became the dominant choice.

Membrane technologies have made up essentially all new desalination capacity in recent years; the last major thermal plant built in the Gulf came online in 2018. Many reverse osmosis plants still rely on fossil fuels, but they’re more efficient. Since then, membrane technologies have added more than 15 million cubic meters of daily capacity—enough to supply water to millions of people.

Capacity has expanded quickly in recent years; between 2006 and 2024, countries across the Middle East collectively spent over $50 billion building and upgrading desalination facilities, and nearly that much operating them.

Today, there are nearly 5,000 desalination plants operational across the Middle East.

And looking ahead, growth is continuing. Between 2024 and 2028, daily capacity is expected to grow from about 29 million cubic meters to 41 million cubic meters.

Uneven vulnerabilities

Some countries rely on the technology more than others. Iran, for example, uses desalination for about 3% of its municipal fresh water. The country has access to groundwater and some surface water, including rivers, though these resources are being stretched thin by agriculture and extreme drought.

Other nations in the region, particularly the Gulf countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Oman), have much more limited water resources and rely heavily on desalination. Across these six nations, all but the UAE get more than half their drinking water from desalination, and for Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait the figure is more than 90%.

“The Gulf countries are much, much more vulnerable to attacks on their desalination plants than Iran is,” says David Michel, a senior associate in the global food and water security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

There are thousands of desalination facilities across the region, so the system wouldn’t collapse if a small number were taken offline, Michel says. However, in recent years there’s been a trend toward larger, more centralized plants.

The average desalination plant is about 10 times larger than it was 15 years ago, according to data from the International Energy Agency. The largest desalination plants today can produce 1 million cubic meters of water daily, enough for hundreds of thousands of people. Taking one or more of these massive facilities offline could have a significant effect on the system, Michel says.

Escalating threats

Desalination facilities are quite linear, meaning there are multiple steps and pieces of equipment that work in sequence—and the failure of a component in that chain can take an entire facility down. Attacks on water inlets, transportation networks, and power supplies can also disrupt the system, Michel says. 

During the Gulf War in 1991, Iraqi forces pumped oil into the gulf, contaminating the water and shutting down desalination plants in Kuwait. 

The facilities are also generally located close to other targets in this conflict. Desalination is incredibly energy intensive, so about three-quarters of facilities in the region are next to power plants. Trump has repeatedly threatened power plants in Iran. In response, Iran’s military has said that if civilian targets are hit, the country will respond with strikes that are “much more devastating and widespread.” Other governments and organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, and the Red Cross, have broadly condemned threats to infrastructure as illegal. 

But war isn’t the only danger facing these plants, even if it is the most immediate. Some studies have suggested that global warming could strengthen cyclones in the region, and these extreme weather events could force shutdowns or damage equipment.

Water pollution could also cause shutdowns. Oil spills, whether accidental or intentional, as in the case of the Gulf War, can  wreak havoc. And in 2009, a red algae bloom closed desalination plants in Oman and the United Arab Emirates for weeks. The algae fouled membranes and blocked the plants from being able to take water in from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Desalination facilities could become more resilient to threats in the future, and they may need to as their importance continues to grow. 

There’s increasing interest in running desalination facilities at least partially on solar power, which could help reduce dependence on the oil that powers most facilities today. The Hassyan seawater desalination project in the UAE, currently under construction, would be the largest reverse osmosis plant in the world to operate solely with renewable energy. 

Another way to increase resilience is for countries to build up more strategic water storage to meet demand. Qatar recently issued new policies that aim to improve management and storage of desalinated water, for example. Countries could also work together to invest in shared infrastructure and policies that help strengthen the water supply through the region. 

Preparedness, resilience, and cooperation will be key for the Middle East broadly as critical infrastructure, including the water supply, is increasingly under threat. 

“The longer the conflict goes on, the more likely we’ll see significant water infrastructure damage,” says Ginger Matchett, an assistant director at the Atlantic Council. “What worries me is that after this war ends, some of the lessons will show how water can be weaponized more strategically than previously imagined.” 

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The Most Effective OCD Treatment Reaches Almost No One: Here’s What We Can Do About It

– Rebecca Deusser, MS, MBA and Sanjaya Saxena, MD

“It took me years to find out that what I was dealing with was OCD!”

This is a phrase all too often repeated by people living with obsessive compulsive disorder. Currently, individuals live with OCD for an average of 7 years (Dell’Osso et al, 2019) before they even receive a diagnosis, all while symptoms may intensify and daily life often becomes increasingly constrained. 

Clinicians, researchers, and advocates have long raised this concern. What has been missing is clear data behind how many people with OCD in the U.S. are missed in clinical settings or are not receiving the most effective treatment.

When the International OCD Foundation undertook this analysis, the scale of the problem became unmistakable. Millions of people in America are currently struggling with OCD without the most effective treatment.

The challenges we detail in our new white paper, America’s OCD Care Crisis: National Findings on the Failure of Effective OCD Treatment to Reach Patients, are significant, but fixable. They are symptoms of structural oversights that can be changed. Effective, evidence-based treatment for OCD exists, and through intentional action, we can dramatically change these unacceptable outcomes for people with OCD.

Where People With OCD Fall Through the Cracks

Well established prevalence rates for OCD indicate that nearly 10 million people in America — roughly 3% (Ruscio et al, 2010; Stein et al,2025; Ringeisen et al, 2025) — will have OCD at some point in their lives. Yet our findings suggest that 75% of them are never even identified, and up to 95% aren’t receiving the most effective treatment for the disorder.

In our analysis, we discovered significant systemic breakdowns at several key points of a patient’s journey: screening, diagnosis, referral, and treatment.

  • Screening and Diagnosis: Receiving a clinical diagnosis is an important step toward recovery as it promotes understanding and opens paths to effective treatment. Yet our findings suggest that this crucial initial step is missing for many millions of people. Of the 10.4 million patient records reviewed in our analysis, only 0.51% received a formal OCD diagnosis, far below the 3% expected prevalence rate. 
  • Referral to appropriate care: After a diagnosis is obtained, a handoff to appropriate care is needed to keep the patient from falling out of the treatment pathway. Here, too, we found an alarming gap within our sample: more than 72% of patients identified as having OCD did not receive a referral for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the most effective treatment for OCD.
  • Effective Treatment: Decades of research has established Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, a specific form of CBT, as the most effective, first-line therapy for OCD. Yet, an astounding 95-98% of people with OCD had not received ERP treatment. Even when people seek help — and even when they are diagnosed — the vast majority never reach the treatment most likely to help them recover.

What We Can Do About It

The breakdowns seen in each step of the care pathway reinforce the focus of IOCDF’s Vision 2030, our five-year strategy to address the systemic barriers that keep effective OCD treatment out of reach.

While the findings are stark, they illuminate many opportunities for change:

  • Identify symptoms earlier by implementing routine OCD screening in primary healthcare and mental health settings.
  • Support clinicians in better understanding and treating OCD by expanding training in assessment, diagnosis, and evidence-based treatment modalities.
  • Help people receive care that works by strengthening adherence to existing professional treatment guidelines.
  • Increase the number of people with OCD who receive effective treatment  by supporting affordable access to ERP and other evidence-based therapies.
  • Let people know they’re not alone by raising accurate public awareness of what OCD really is — and that it is treatable.

Vision 2030 outlines how the IOCDF is committing its resources, partnerships, and expertise toward advancing these priorities — by increasing awareness and community, expanding access to effective treatment, and advancing research. Together, these efforts are designed to work in concert, improving clinical training, implementing screening for early identification, strengthening pathways from diagnosis to care, and increasing the likelihood that people receive evidence-based treatment.

At the same time, the scale of the problem revealed in this report makes clear that progress depends on collective action across the field. Clinicians, health systems, educators, researchers, policymakers, advocates, and people with lived experience all have a role to play. Together, these efforts can help ensure that people with OCD reach effective treatment sooner, reducing years of unnecessary confusion and distress. 

How You Can Help

Join us in building better access to effective treatment for people with OCD:

The current state of treatment for OCD in the U.S. is sobering, but it is not the end of the story. OCD is treatable, recovery is possible, and change can happen as awareness grows and access expands. With continued effort, the gap between how many are struggling and how many receive effective care can begin to close. A brighter future is possible — and we can build it together.

References

  1. Dell’Osso, B., Benatti, B., Grancini, B., Vismara, M., De Carlo, V., Cirnigliaro, G., Albert, U., & Viganò, C. (2019). Investigating duration of illness and duration of untreated illness in obsessive compulsive disorder reveals patients remain at length pharmacologically untreated. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 23(4), 311–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2019.1621348
  2. Ruscio, A. M., Stein, D. J., Chiu, W. T., & Kessler, R. C. (2010). The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Molecular Psychiatry, 15(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2008.94
  3. Stein, D. J., Ruscio, A. M., Altwaijri, Y., Chiu, W. T., Sampson, N. A., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Chardoul, S., Gureje, O., Hu, C., Karam, E. G., McGrath, J. J., Navarro-Mateu, F., Scott, K. M., Stagnaro, J. C., Torres, Y., Vladescu, C., Wciórka, J., Xavier, M., … Kessler, R. C. (2025). Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys. Research Square, rs.3.rs-6090427. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6090427/v1
  4. Ringeisen, H., Edlund, M., Guyer, H., Dever, J., Carpenter, L., Olfson, M., First, M., Geiger, P., Liao, D., Peytchev, A., Carr, C., Chwastiak, L., Dixon, L. B., Monroe-Devita, M., Scott Stroup, T., Swanson, J., Swartz, M., Gibbons, R., Stambaugh, L., Bareis, N., … Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study Consortium (2025). Prevalence of past-year mental and substance use disorders, 2021-2022. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.), 76(8), 720–728. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20240329

IOCDF Training & Resources for Clinicians

When clinicians have easier access to best practices in OCD diagnosis and treatment, more people can receive effective care. The IOCDF’s Training Institute offers evidence-based programs for clinicians at every stage of practice, including:

  • A robust, on-demand webinar catalog (CE-eligible!) covering fundamentals, modalities, related disorders, and comorbidities. The catalog includes access to the free webinar, OCD Basics. 
  • IOCDF’s Training Institute offers intensive workshops and events, consultation groups, and more for clinicians of every level.
  • Professional Members at the IOCDF join a nationwide network of committed professionals, are eligible for listing on our Resource Directory, and have access to special pricing for Training Institute offerings.

The post The Most Effective OCD Treatment Reaches Almost No One: Here’s What We Can Do About It appeared first on International OCD Foundation.

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Social cognitive deficits and altered multi-brain dynamics during problem-solving in heroin abstainers: An fNIRS hyperscanning study

Despite extensive research on the neurobiology of addiction, little is known about how repeated drug use and withdrawal are related to social functioning impairments in humans, a highly social species. This obscures the broader societal impact of drug addiction and limits treatment efficacy. This study examined social cognitive impairment and its multi-brain neural underpinnings during socially interactive problem-solving in heroin use disorder (HUD), and further explored their co-occurrence with protracted withdrawal symptoms.

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STAT+: NIH would get $5 billion cut under Trump’s 2027 budget, but Congress unlikely to go along

The White House is asking Congress to cut $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health and to downsize the number of its institutes and centers from 27 to 22 — a plan that is expected to receive a chilly reception from lawmakers from both parties. 

The president’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, released Friday, asks for $41 billion for the NIH and eliminates the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the Fogarty International Center, and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The 2027 budget also proposes consolidating two institutes focused on research on drug and alcohol abuse into a new entity called the National Institute of Substance Use and Addiction Research, as well as relocating the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The White House proposal also asks Congress to slash the budget for the Advanced Research Projects (ARPA-H), which funds cutting-edge science, from its current $1.5 billion to $945 million.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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AI In Silico Multi-Omics Technique Cuts Therapeutic Development Costs

Bringing a drug from discovery through clinical trials takes too long and is too expensive, with preclinical costs alone estimated at $15 to $100 million. Employing artificial intelligence (AI) early in the process can lower those costs dramatically.

AI itself isn’t a panacea, though, Jayson Uffens, CTO and chairman of GATC Health, tells GEN. Instead, “Smart computing makes smart people smarter. There’s still a lot of expertise from people on the ground who bring a lot of value—maybe the ultimate value—to the mix.”

GATC Health, an AI-driven therapeutic discovery company, uses AI to raise the floor on opportunities to get high-potential compounds into human studies faster and thereby drive success.

Its proprietary approach to hit and lead identification and program derisking can cut preclinical development costs, according to Uffens, who maintains that the earlier AI is used in a program, the more dramatic the results.

The success GATC Health touts is based on deploying Operon™, the company’s proprietary AI platform. Operon deploys in silico models to simulate human biology and takes a multi-omics approach to analysis. That approach has allowed GATC to deliver three to five optimized compounds within six months, claims Uffens, versus the up to 48 months associated with traditional high-throughput screening methods.

Such acceleration occurs by using advanced in silico models to circumvent the “hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of experiments performed to get a hit and, ultimately, a lead,” Uffens says.

Rather than relying upon one huge model, he elaborates, “We attack the problem from multiple facets, looking at individual problems with various models and different architectures…and coordinate hundreds of AI models to answer different questions. That’s the starting point. There’s a lot of value in how we curate and parameterize our data in those specific contexts.”

The company also launched the Derisq™ AI Report, an in-depth analysis of drug candidates that highlights safety concerns, efficacy, and non-obvious risks early, while decision-makers can still modulate those risks.

This predictive intelligence layer is, in fact, a key element of GATC’s clinical trial insurance product. Underwritten by Medical and Commercial International (MCI) under the Lloyd’s of London framework, this insurance product leverages GATC’s predictive capabilities to identify risk. It reimburses the full cost of the trial if safety or efficacy endpoints aren’t met.

Typically, MCI’s preclinical trial insurance clients would provide that company with the relevant trial information, which would be run through the Derisq tool as part of their risk analysis.

Buyers for this insurance tend to be biopharma companies that aren’t large enough to self-insure their own trials. “Capital is expensive for them,” Uffens points out. “The insurance product is there to help them lower the cost of capital and open capital doors that may not be open otherwise.”

Multiomics to Discovery

What’s different about GATC’s approach to AI, Uffens says, is that “We come in, generally, as outsiders.” The founding team includes computer scientists as well as those with strong biology and genetics backgrounds, but not necessarily industry experience.

“We built our technology originally as a genetics interpretation platform,” he recalls, “and expanded it to find additional value.” The company was formed officially in 2020.

The turning point came when GATC became involved in a failed, big pharma program for addiction research.

“(The big pharma company) hadn’t found a solution, but had really valuable data and samples. A partner of ours was working with it to identify biomarkers and thought we could validate them. We discovered that not only could we validate the biomarkers, but we could also identify the therapeutic targets. That’s how we moved from multi-omics analysis into discovery,” Uffens recalls.

Moving forward, “We want to empower researchers,” he says. This means not only helping clients advance existing programs but also by identifying potentially more valuable targets.

Working with GATC

GATC’s key partners most likely will be biotech rather than big pharma, Uffens predicts. And, he notes, “We’re fairly agnostic to therapeutic area.”

“Most of our customers have called us because they want to realize the benefits of AI sooner rather than later,” Uffens says. “There is a lot of risk in the space. Folks who are willing to adopt AI at this stage…are looking for additional help before they risk more capital…” to solve particular challenges.

For a company to begin working with GATC, he explains, “The data we’re looking for is very similar to what they would include in an Investigational New Drug (IND) package. The earlier they are in the process, the less data they will have, but, at a minimum, we need some particulars on their therapeutic’s chemistry and the intended mechanism of action.”

Challenges

Drug development is a difficult space with plentiful challenges, he admits. Therefore, “We approach things as a tech company. We iterate through a problem and find where we can succeed or fail as quickly as we can to develop a solution. We’ve gone through multiple generations of architectures, finding ways that work best.”

The next milestone is to accumulate multiple successes with Operon and Derisq in human trials. “‘Wins in humans’ is our [next] frontier,” he says. That includes wins for its insurance underwriting partners as well as for companies working directly with GATC to advance therapeutics to human trials.

As part of that goal, GATC and BioAtla are closing a deal for a Phase III trial of ozuriftamab vedotin for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and to further develop conditionally active biologic senolytic therapies. Termed a special purpose vehicle transaction—a financial entity designed to hold specific assets that last for the life of the project—the $40 million deal formed Inversagen AI, LLC, to leverage the strengths of the founding companies.

“GATC and BioAtla are equal partners in Inversagen,” Uffens says. “GATC will own a percentage of ozuriftamab vedotin and a larger stake in future joint discoveries,” thus potentially discovering new therapeutic combinations that may be effective as conditionally active biologics.

Currently, the GATC is fine-tuning its own project prioritization. “The AI landscape is both beneficial and challenging,” Uffens acknowledges. “People have certain expectations about what AI can and should do, how it works, and how they might adopt it. Getting them to hear our unique perspective comes back to our focus on wins in humans.”

GATC Health Corp.

Location: 2030 Main Street, Suite 660, Irvine, CA 92614

Phone: (833) 333-4282

Website: gatchealth.com

Principal: John Stroh, CEO

Number of Employees: 60

Focus: GATC Health Corp. is a pioneer in AI-driven drug discovery and disease prediction, with proprietary technology platforms that help therapeutic developers slash both development timelines and costs.

The post AI <i>In Silico</i> Multi-Omics Technique Cuts Therapeutic Development Costs appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

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IOCDF Calls for Reinstatement of SAMHSA Grants, Renewed Commitment to Mental Health Support

The International OCD Foundation is alarmed by the apparent sudden and widespread termination of grants supporting vital mental health and addiction services previously funded through the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

These programs provide life-saving services for individuals experiencing acute mental health crises and help prevent symptoms from escalating to emergency or inpatient levels of care.

As detailed in our recent white paper, America’s OCD Care Crisis, 95% of Americans with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are not receiving the most effective treatment. When OCD goes untreated or is treated with approaches that are not evidence-based, individuals face increased distress, functional impairment, isolation, and elevated risk of crisis. Access to trained clinicians and community-based mental health services is essential for helping people remain safe during periods of heightened distress and navigate next steps for treatment.

At a time when so many people with OCD and related disorders already struggle to access appropriate care, reducing support for frontline mental health professionals further weakens an already fragile system.

The IOCDF urges the reinstatement of these grants and continued federal commitment to accessible, evidence-based mental health and addiction services for all who need them.

Contact your congressional representative now to support the reinstatement of SAMHSA grants >>

The post IOCDF Calls for Reinstatement of SAMHSA Grants, Renewed Commitment to Mental Health Support appeared first on International OCD Foundation.

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Internet addiction in adolescents with suicidal ideation: the role of self-esteem and school connectedness

BackgroundInternet addiction (IA) has become a growing concern, particularly among adolescents, due to its adverse effects on mental health, physical well-being, and future development. Adolescents with suicidal ideation (SI) are particularly vulnerable to IA, which may be associated with a higher risk of engaging in suicidal behaviors. However, the relationship and underlying mechanisms between SI and IA remain unclear. This study, grounded in the cognitive-behavioral model of pathological internet use, investigates the relationship and explores the roles of self-esteem (mediator) and school connectedness (moderator) in this association.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 462 Chinese adolescents with SI (79.0% female) were recruited from psychiatric outpatient clinics between June 2024 and September 2025. Validated instruments measured SI, self-esteem, school connectedness, and IA. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping procedures was used to test the mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between SI and IA. The moderating role of school connectedness was examined using PROCESS Model 8.ResultsSI was positively associated with IA (β = 0.224, p < 0.001). SI was negatively associated with self-esteem (β = -0.464, p < 0.001), and self-esteem was further negatively associated with IA (β = -0.448, p < 0.001). Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between SI and IA, with an indirect effect of 0.208 (95% CI: 0.154-0.271). School connectedness significantly moderated the direct association between SI and IA (β = -0.005, p = 0.001), but did not moderate the association between SI and the mediator, self-esteem (β = 0.004, p = 0.202).ConclusionThis study identifies a significant positive association between SI and IA among adolescents with SI, with self-esteem partially mediating this link. Furthermore, school connectedness showed a very weak buffering effect on the direct association between SI and IA, and it does not moderate the association between SI and self-esteem. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying IA in this vulnerable population and suggest potential targets for interventions.
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Canada Gets its First National Guidance on AI for Mental and Substance Use Health

Ottawa (ONTARIO) – In a first-of-its-kind initiative, national guidance for using artificial intelligence (AI) in the mental and substance use health field is being developed through a partnership between the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) and the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

AI is increasingly being used for healthcare triage, service navigation, service delivery, and communication, but developers and users have no guidelines specific to mental or substance use health to support its effective and safe use. The recently published E-Mental Health Strategy for Canada highlights the need for safety in this field.

The new National Guidance for Artificial Intelligence Use in Mental Health and Substance Use Health Care will provide guidance, tools, and resources  to help practitioners, organizations, and health leaders in efficiently evaluating and implementing AI-enabled mental health and substance use health care services and solutions. It will also support people with lived or living experience of mental health or substance use health concerns in making informed choices about these technologies, while helping technology companies design and improve such solutions to meet the needs of those who use them.

“People are excited about what AI can bring, but the saying ‘break it then fix it’ can take on new dangers when what is at risk is people’s lives. This guidance will allow innovators to move fast while working to ensure it’s done safely and in a way that increases impact and access,” says CCSA CEO Dr. Alexander Caudarella.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada President and CEO Lili-Anna Pereša adds, “Technology can be a powerful ally in transforming mental health care, but innovation must be matched with responsibility. Communities are the best problem-solvers. By working together with developers, providers, and people with lived experience, we’re creating guidance that ensures AI enhances care safely and meaningfully.”

The National Guidance team will share its early findings at several upcoming conferences, including the World Psychiatric Association’s World Congress of Psychiatry, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction’s Issues of Substance conference, and the eMental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC) Congress.

In Canada, mental health and substance use health needs are highly common, yet many people continue to face significant barriers to care, including limited access, stigma, financial costs, and lack of tailored treatment options.

 
The National Guidance for Artificial Intelligence Use with Mental Health and Substance Use Health is expected to launch in 2026/2027.

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About CCSA:

CCSA was created by Parliament to provide national leadership to address substance use in Canada. A trusted counsel, we provide national guidance to decision makers by harnessing the power of research, curating knowledge and bringing together diverse perspectives. CCSA activities and products are made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views of CCSA do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.

About The Mental Health Commission of Canada:

The Commission leads the development and dissemination of innovative programs and tools to support the mental health and wellness of people in Canada. Through its unique mandate from the Government of Canada, the Commission supports federal, provincial, and territorial governments as well as organizations in the implementation of sound public policy. The Commission’s current mandate aims to deliver on priority areas identified in the Mental Health Strategy for Canada in alignment with the delivery of its strategic plan. 

Media contacts:

Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
Christine LeBlanc, Senior Strategic Communications Advisor
613-898-6343 | cleblanc@ccsa.ca

Mental Health Commission of Canada
media@mentalhealthcommission.ca

The post Canada Gets its First National Guidance on AI for Mental and Substance Use Health appeared first on Mental Health Commission of Canada.

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Development of the Healthy Women Intervention to Increase Women’s Engagement in Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: Mixed Methods, User-Centered Design Approach

Background: Rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) have increased among women over the past 2 decades. Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is effective but underused. Gender-specific treatments for women have been associated with improved substance use outcomes. However, these treatments have not specifically targeted women’s engagement in MOUD, and the impact of existing gender-specific treatments is restricted by in-person delivery. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a digital intervention to feasibly deliver gender-specific care that addresses the individualized needs of women with OUD to increase engagement in MOUD. Methods: A mixed methods, user-centered design approach was used to inform the development of a digital intervention. In phase 1, qualitative interviews were conducted with women with lived experience of OUD (n=20) and providers who treat women with OUD (n=8). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes. In addition, a larger sample of treatment providers (n=55) completed an online survey to further inform the content of the digital intervention. Phase 2 consisted of designing, beta-testing (n=5), and refining the intervention. Results: The age of women with lived experience ranged from 21 to 59 (mean 38.5, SD 9.4) years; 63% (5/8) of providers interviewed were female participants. The qualitative interview data from women with lived experience and providers were grouped into 6 thematic categories: 3 treatment-related (1) barriers to treatment, (2) facilitators to successful recovery, and (3) important issues to address in treatment, and 3 technology-related (4) positives of using technology as part of treatment, (5) suggested technology features, and (6) barriers to using technology. Across the treatment-related categories, several themes touched on women-specific factors including family responsibilities, abusive partners, stigma, and motivation for treatment (eg, pregnancy). The technology-related categories provided information for designing the features of the intervention, as well as revealing barriers to technology use, which could be helpful in developing implementation strategies. Provider survey participants were primarily female participants (40/55, 73%), with a mean age of 42.5 (SD 12.5) years. Survey data provided additional information on barriers to treatment and suggested technology features. Based on these data and preliminary work, the intervention was created. Minor edits to content and visual design were made in the beta-testing phase. The final version includes a web-based component with 6 topic modules and a mobile component. Topics in the web-based component are presented through infographics, text, videos, and interactive questions. The mobile component includes daily motivational messages, skills practice activities (2/wk), weekly check-ins, and resources (always available). Conclusions: Important themes and suggested features from women with lived experience and providers were incorporated into a digital intervention for women with OUD. Data on feasibility, satisfaction, and engagement with the intervention are currently being collected in phase 3, a pilot randomized controlled trial.
<img src="https://jmir-production.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thumbs/6b8c4ff957e61601e8e82fd621767c3d" />

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ARIA funding

We’re proud to share that Relatix Bio has applied for funding from the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) under their Trust Everything, Everywhere programme. This initiative explores how trust can be built across the digital and physical worlds, and we believe this conversation must include those whose minds work differently.

Our proposal focuses on one of the most pressing and least understood challenges of the digital age: how people with neurodevelopmental and neurodiverse conditions — including autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, borderline traits, and psychopathy — experience, interact with, and build trust in AI systems. In a world increasingly mediated by algorithms, the ways these systems interpret, respond to, and store our most personal thoughts and data matter profoundly.

Throughout history, individuals living with stigmatised neurocognitive conditions have been marginalised or misrepresented — by institutions, by society, and now, potentially, by AI. Some may over-trust technology that feels neutral or supportive; others may under-trust it due to past harm or bias. We want to ensure that digital systems meet people where they are — building trust rather than eroding it. Protecting privacy, and supporting quality of life, health and wellbeing.

Through our work, Relatix Bio aims to lead the way in ethical and inclusive neuro-AI design: protecting privacy, removing stigma, and defining standards for responsible data handling in the era of AI. Our goal is to make sure that the next generation of AI-driven tools — from chatbots to diagnostics — truly serve everyone, regardless of how their brain is wired.

We know how often in the past things have gone wrong — from chatbots unintentionally encouraging depressive or paranoid thoughts, to credit and gambling platforms optimising for addiction or impulsive behaviour. These systems were built without safeguarding those with neurodevelopmental conditions, who may react differently to AI optimised interactions. Many respond by disengaging digitally, and may be feeling that an AI-driven world is a minefield — because it wasn’t built for them.

Join us in shaping a radically different future where cognitive diversity and digital trust can coexist, and AI tools are built to truly support and facilitate. To learn more about our mission or to collaborate contact our team.