The use of methamphetamine (including crystal methamphetamine or ‘ice’) and related harms continues to be the subject of growing concern in Australia, with Australians rating it the drug of most concern in the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey (2019).
In this 1-hour live webinar you will hear first-hand from presenters with research, clinical and lived experience about the current methamphetamine ‘picture’ and how methamphetamine use can lead to mental health symptoms, and what it means for clinical practice.
Key Topics of this webinar:
- The short- and long-term effects of methamphetamine use and how it works in the brain.
- Interactions between methamphetamine and other substances like alcohol.
- Barriers to care and the role of stigma for people who use methamphetamine (in particular ‘ice’).
- Relationship between methamphetamine use and problems with sleep, anxiety and depression and psychosis (e.g. co-occurring conditions).
Key learning outcomes:
- Appreciation of the comprehensive data picture of methamphetamine prevalence in Australia.
- Greater understanding and symptom recognition of both short and long term effects of methamphetamine use on the brain and on mental health.
- Improved strategies on how to address stigma and its tangible effects on help-seeking and treatments.
Who will be presenting this webinar?
Jack Nagle
Lived Experience
After playing basketball at a high level with names such as Andrew Gaze, and being an incredibly fit and healthy young man with a happy-go-lucky attitude, addiction took over Jack’s life.
His personality, attitude and outlook were completely altered.
Over many years Jack used daily, cocktailing intravenous ‘ice’ with an array of prescription medication, marijuana and alcohol.
This led Jack to psychosis, suicide attempts, overdoses, homelessness, abuse, crime, broken relationships, malnutrition, family destruction and bitter regret.
After having his life flash before his eyes whilst looking in the mirror, Jack checked in for treatment at 196cm (6’5ft) weighing only 64kg.
He had attempted suicide only two weeks earlier and was suffering from the lingering effects of psychosis.
From these experiences, Jack is extremely passionate about using the destruction of his past as his greatest asset to give the hope of freedom to people suffering from addiction and educating the community with the sometimes confronting and shattering reality of addiction.
Working at the coal face of addiction treatment with various leading addiction treatment centres in Australia, appearing on national television, regularly commenting in broadcast media and print, working with government and being in and around addiction for over a decade, he has positively impacted thousands of lives.
Jack has an abundance of knowledge both personally and professionally about substances, addiction and how to turn a chaotic nightmare into a fulfilling dream.
Stephanie Kershaw
Researcher
Dr Stephanie Kershaw is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, who leads an innovative program of research and translation on the prevention and treatment of illicit substance misuse.
Dr Stephanie Kershaw completed her PhD in 2015 after which, she undertook several appointments at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland focusing on the impact of illicit drugs on public health, and the translation of evidence-based research into international policy outcomes.
She is currently Project Lead for Cracks in the Ice a National Online Portal funded by the Australian Government Department of Health to develop and disseminate evidence-based resources about methamphetamine for the Australian Community.
She also leads Australia’s first project to develop and adapt culturally appropriate resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to reduce the impact of methamphetamine use among communities.
Shalini Arunogiri
Clinician
Dr Shalini Arunogiri is a consultant addiction psychiatrist and clinician researcher.
Currently, she is Deputy Clinical Director at Turning Point a national addiction treatment and research centre; and Deputy Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Central Clinical School, Monash University.
Shalini is Chair of the RANZCP Binational Faculty of Addiction Psychiatry.
Her clinical and research interests include methamphetamine use and mental health problems, and women’s health and addictive disorders.
She is an investigator on multiple Australian clinical trials of medication treatments for addiction, including the N-ICE and LiMA trials for methamphetamine use disorder.
She is also mum to an energetic five year-old boy and a passionate advocate for women in STEMM and academia.
Dan Howard
Chair
Professor Dan Howard SC was the Commissioner of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’, and delivered his final Report to the Governor and Premier of NSW in January 2020.
A former President of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and a former Acting Judge of the District Court of NSW, Dan has held various academic positions and is a NSW Patron of the Justice Reform Initiative.
He is also co-author of the text ‘Crime and Mental Health Law in NSW’ and the author of ‘R v Milat – a case study in cross-examination’.