Topics: Addiction | Free Articles | Substance Abuse

Today’s conversation about “smart drugs” is fundamentally different and refers to the use of medications by people without psychiatric disorders who seek a boost or cognitive edge.

Americans guzzled a mind-blowing 3.5 billion energy drinks in 2013, with sales totaling $8.7 billion. But what, exactly, are energy drinks? Do they actually give you energy? And are they safe?

Topics: ADHD | Substance Abuse

Get insight into the problem of malingering—in other words faking—ADHD symptoms by patients who may want to receive academic accommodations or obtain prescription stimulants, in an interview with researcher Mandi Musso, PhD.

Topics: Substance Abuse

Learn some of the key best practices that can help you work with patients in substance abuse treatment who also have a traumatic brain injury, in an interview with Duane Reynolds, LSW, LADC, associate director of the Vinland National Center in Minnesota.

Topics: Addiction | ADHD | Substance Abuse

Find out more about how you can evaluate and treat ADHD symptoms in patients with addiction, in an interview with clinical neuropsychologist Christopher B. Mertz.

Topics: Addiction | Research Updates | Substance Abuse

Buprenorphine (Suboxone and others) is an effective medication for treating patients with opioid addiction. Research has shown that it works better than standard psychosocial or “abstinence-based” treatments. But is the cost of the drug worth the extra therapeutic benefit?

Topics: Addiction | Research Updates

New technology has brought with it a new addiction. Clinicians may now face the challenge of how to treat the growing problem of internet addiction, where patients experience online-related, compulsive behaviors that interfere with daily life, work, and relationships.

Topics: News of Note | Substance Abuse

Naltrexone, which first hit the US market in 1984 as a treatment for alcohol dependence, continues to find new uses. Its latest incarnation, Contrave, was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September as a weight loss medication.

Topics: News of Note | Substance Abuse

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that in adults ages 20 to 64, one in 10 deaths are the result of excessive drinking.