OBJECTIVES Prescription rates of methylphenidate (MPH) are sharply rising in most Western countries. Although it has been reported that MPH has abuse potential, little is known about the prevalence of intravenous (IV) abuse of MPH. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of IV MPH abuse among treatment-seeking IV substance abusers in Iceland. METHODS This is a descriptive popul...

OBJECTIVE The authors' goal was to compare the efficacy of a manualized cognitive behavior therapy that addresses both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse (seeking safety) with a manualized cognitive behavior therapy that addresses only substance abuse (relapse prevention) and with standard community care for the treatment of comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) an...

In the past, traditional treatment methods for drug addiction and alcoholism have been characteristically intense and confrontational. They are designed to break down a client’s denial, defenses, and/or resistance to his or her addictive disorders, as they are perceived by the provider. Admissions criteria to substance abuse treatment programs usually require abstinence from all illicit substan...

Objectives: This report examines the sociodemographic and substance use characteristics, co-occurring psychological status, substance abuse consequences, and prior experiences with substance abuse treatment among patients with cocaine-associated chest pain presenting to an emergency department chest pain observation unit. Methods: This was a consecutive cohort of patients in the emergency depar...

OBJECTIVES The goal of this retrospective study was to examine factors differentiating persons with bipolar disorder who did or did not have comorbid lifetime substance use disorders (SUD) at an index assessment. We also explored the chronology of onset of mood and SUD. METHODS We studied 146 subjects with DSM-defined bipolar disorder. Subgroups with and without lifetime SUD were compared on ...

Background: Substance abuse disorder is among the leading public health problems in modern day world as they cause enormous human suffering in terms of morbidity, mortality and economic loss; and threatens the very social fabric of almost all communities around the world and as such is a great threat to the global health, economy and peace. Like most social behaviours the etiology of substance ...

Millions of children are left to survive on the streets around the world. Investigations on drug use disorders among street children reveal that they not only abuse all types of drugs higher than their peers who live at home or in shelters, but also they abuse more harmful drugs such as injection drugs or methamphetamines. This guideline provides a comprehensive approach to the treatment and ma...

Most clinicians and investigators agree that bipolar disorder as currently diagnosed is phenomenologically heterogeneous and probably represents several distinct subtypes. The inability to reliably define distinct subtypes of bipolar disorder has greatly impaired research into the pathophysiology and treatment of the disorder. The articles by Angst and Sellaro (2000), Biederman et al (2000), an...

BACKGROUND Assessment of co-morbid personality disorders in substance use disorders may lead to important insights concerning individual patients. However, little is known about the potential value of routine personality disorder assessment in a clinical context. METHODS Patients are adults with past-year substance dependence seeking treatment at a centralized intake unit for substance abuser...

This is the first published study from an Arab Near Eastern country to examine the comorbidity of substance abuse with other psychiatric disorders. All inpatients with substance abuse/dependence (present or past) admitted to the psychiatry unit at St. George Hospital (Lebanon) between 1979 and 1992 (N = 222) constituted the study sample. Of these, 64.9% were found to have comorbid psychiatric d...