INTRODUCTION:

Addictions, known as chronic (recurrent) behavioural disorders reinforced by a pleasant feeling (“reward”), are shown to be mediated by activation of the central dopaminergic neuronal pathway of the middle brain (“Reward Pathway”) with deregulations proven in the dorsal striatum, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, orbitofrontal, and prefrontal cortex. These neurological changes alter behaviour, judgment, memory, learning, and stress management and thus addiction was called “Brain Disease” (Uhl et al., 2019). However, in addictions, other vital...

Biotechnological treatment, including addiction treatment, is the way of the future. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies praise depot injections, agonist/antagonist implants, deep brain stimulation, and hapten conjugate vaccines as medicine's greatest chance for reducing illegal usage, reducing the danger of overdose and severe withdrawal, and preventing drug diversion to criminal markets.

Old conflicts around ideas of addiction and treatment are revealed by marketing and the use of new technologies: between medical condition and will disorder, between criminal justice and health, and...

Tobacco smoking is the greatest cause of sickness and early death worldwide, with 8 million people dying each year from a smoking-related condition. The use of pharmaceutical or behavioural assistance improves smokers' chances of quitting; nonetheless, the majority of smoking cessation efforts are unassisted.

Engagement with web-based smoking cessation interventions is a strong predictor of data retention in clinical trials and successful behaviour change.

WebQuit is a web-delivered smoking intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which suggests that psychological...

Abstract

Background

Impaired cognitive functions, particularly executive function, predict poor treatment success in people with substance use disorders. The current study investigated the effect of receiving adjunct cognitive rehabilitation and baseline executive function (EF) measures on treatment response among people with opioid use disorder (OUD).

Method

The analysis sample consisted of 113 participants with OUD who were discharged from a compulsory court-mandated methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and followed for 3 months. We used the Backward digit span/Auditory verbal...

Background:

Rates of smoking among those with serious mental illness (SMI) are two to three times higher than for the general population. Smoking is rarely addressed in mental health settings. Innovative outreach and treatment strategies are needed to address these disparities. The current study is a pilot study of the feasibility and acceptability of a chronic care model of tobacco cessation treatment implemented in outpatient psychiatry clinics.

Methods:

Participants were recruited from two outpatient psychiatric clinics and randomly assigned to intervention (counseling and nicotine...

Background:

Substance use disorders are reliably associated with high impulsivity and sensation seeking. Importantly, both precede problematic substance use, implicating them as risk factors. Individuals with substance use disorders show variable degrees of substance use (combined quantity and frequency) and substance-related problems and differ in both aspects from healthy controls. Dimensional research has indicated differential associations of impulsivity-related traits as well as sensation seeking with the degree of substance use and substance-related problems. The current study aimed...

Background:

Smoking is still prevalent among people with substance use disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of smoking among patients in treatment for substance use disorders and to analyze the effect of smoking both at baseline and follow-up on drop-out, mental health and quality of life.

Methods:

One hundred and twenty-eight inpatients (26% female), mainly with alcohol use disorder, staying at three different rehabilitation clinics in Eastern Norway, were interviewed at admission, and at 6 weeks and 6 months follow-up. The interview contained...