The Latest in Designer Drugs

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Substance Abuse

Over the past several years, the explosion of “designer drugs”—so named because they are designed to evade regulation and law enforcement—has continued unabated. Like fashion designers who work perennially to make last year’s wardrobe obsolete, chemists in sophisticated laboratories add continuously to the vast number of “novel psychoactive

Understanding the Dangers of Designer and Club Drugs

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Substance Abuse

Is Varenicline More Effective in Women Than Men?

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Substance Abuse

The Vast Landscape of Services that is “Rehab”

Topics: Addiction | Free Articles | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Substance Abuse

If a patient comes in and says, “doc, I think I need to go to rehab,” what should you do? Most people think of rehabs as residential facilities, but these days, the term “rehab” includes a broad spectrum of treatment settings, most of which, in fact, are not residential—only 10% of people receiving specialized addiction services go to resident

Book Review: Inside Rehab—What Really Goes On in Rehab Facilities?

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Substance Abuse

What goes on inside a residential rehab program? Inquiring minds would love to know, especially those of us who are treating addicts and counseling concerned family members. Rehab has traditionally been a kind of black box, an opaque entity where addicts enter, and 30 days later exit with an epiphany and a lifelong commitment to sobriety. Until they rel

Marijuana in 2015: What Should We Say to Our Patients?

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Substance Abuse

How should we talk about marijuana with our patients? For psychiatrists, the topic usually arises with respect to two key areas: the potential adverse effects of marijuana use, especially upon those with other psychiatric disorders and our youth, and the question of the legitimate medical benefit of medical marijuana for particular medical and p

The Case Against Residential Rehab

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Substance Abuse

The Substance Abuse Interventionist

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Substance Abuse

How to Treat Tobacco Use Disorder—A Primer

Topics: Addiction | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy | Psychotherapy | Smoking Cessation Agents

You may or may not consider smoking cessation to be part of your job description. But tobacco use disorder is a psychiatric syndrome, per DSM-5. To officially diagnose it, you have to establish a "problematic pattern" of tobacco use leading to "significant distress" which lasts at least 12 months. DSM lists 11 criteria, and the more criteria that apply,

Understanding the New World of E-Cigarettes

Topics: Addiction | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Smoking Cessation Agents | Substance Abuse

It Pays to Quit Smoking

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents | Substance Abuse

Using Psychiatric Biomarkers in your Practice

Topics: Addiction | Diagnostic Testing | Genetics and Psychiatry | Laboratory Testing in Psychiatry | Practice Tools and Tips

Treatment of the psychiatric patient is as much an art as it is a science. Diagnosing and deciding on treatments in psychiatry is based on a series of human interactions. We observe and we listen to patients, we ask questions, we consider their responses, and we synthesize all this information in order to render a judgment. Such judgments are subjective

How to Evaluate the Methodology of Biomarker Studies

Topics: Addiction | Genetics and Psychiatry | Laboratory Testing in Psychiatry | Practice Tools and Tips

Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Dependence

Topics: Addiction | Free Articles | Substance Abuse

Chances are good that we under-medicate alcoholics. According to one estimate, only 10% of alcoholics receive medications as part of their treatment (Jonas DE et al, JAMA 2014;311(18):1889–1900). That’s too bad, because these medications work. In the interview in this issue, we learn from Amy R. Krentzman, MSW, PhD, about techniques from positive

Using Positive Psychology to Help People with Addictions

Topics: Addiction | Substance Abuse

High Potency Cannabis Increases Risk of First Episode Psychosis

Topics: Addiction | Research Updates

How Deadly is Alcohol Poisoning? Very.

Topics: Addiction | News of Note

IN Naloxone for Opiate Overdose – Ready for Prime Time?

Topics: Addiction | Substance Abuse

Opioid overdoses have reached epidemic proportions—fatalities due to opioid overdose have risen from 4,030 deaths reported in 1999 to 16,651 in 2010 (Jones CM et al, JAMA 2013;309(7):657–659). Some 80% of these deaths are unintentional, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the best solution would be to preve

Alcohol and Benzodiazepine Detoxification

Topics: Addiction | Benzodiazepines | Substance Abuse

Alcohol - Most Heavy Drinkers are Not Alcohol Dependent

Topics: Addiction | Substance Abuse