Addiction-treatment - Articles

Buprenorphine Treatment

November 5, 2021

Noah Capurso, MD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, CT. Editor-in-chief of The Carlat Addiction Treatment Report.

Dr. Capurso has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Buprenorphine is a first line medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder yet remains vastly under-prescribed. Here, Dr. Capurso reviews the pharmacologic principles relevant to buprenorphine prescribing and lays out how to start patients on the medication both in the clinic and at home.

Suboxone vs. Vivitrol for Opioid Use Disorder: How Do you Choose?

November 5, 2021

Gregory Lande, MD.

Gregory Lande, MD. Dr. Lande has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Buprenorphine and long acting injectable naltrexone are both effective for the treatment of opioid use disorder; however, until now, we had little data to predict which patients would do better on which medications. Here, researchers identify patient characteristics predictive of success on buprenorphine versus naltrexone.

The Pregnant Patient With Substance Use Disorder

July 3, 2021

Ariadna Forray, MD

Ariadna Forray, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Interim Chief, Section of Psychological Medicine. Director, Center for Wellbeing of Women and Mothers, Yale New Haven Hospital. Dr. Forray has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Forray gives readers a comprehensive refresher on fetal effects of alcohol, tobacco, opioid, cannabis, and stimulant use during pregnancy. She then lays out the current evidence for various treatments and provides recommendations for how to treat pregnant patients with addiction.

Cannabidiol for Crack-Cocaine Craving: Negative Findings

July 3, 2021

David Moltz, MD

David Moltz, MD Dr. Moltz has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Cocaine use disorder is notoriously difficult to treat. The authors of this study asked, might cannabidiol be helpful in treating the cravings that prompt cocaine use? While this might seem like an unusual question at first, there is some supportive preclinical data that makes the premise plausible. Unfortunately, the results were negative in this small study.

Disulfiram: An Underused Strategy for Alcohol Use Disorders

June 29, 2021

Stephen Wyatt, DO.

Stephen Wyatt, DO. Private practice psychiatrist with certification in addiction psychiatry, Charlotte, NC. Dr. Wyatt has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

We unravel the myths that keep psychiatrists from using disulfiram (Antabuse) in alcohol use disorders. In the right patient, this medication is very effective and far less dangerous than the alternative: continued drinking.

Integrating Medication Prescribing and Psychotherapy

March 19, 2021

Carla Marienfeld, MD

Carla Marienfeld, MD

Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego. Director of the UCSD Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, co-editor of Motivational Interviewing for Clinical Practice, and editor of Absolute Addiction Psychiatry Review. Dr. Marienfeld has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Marienfeld shares strategies of how to turn short clinical appointments meant “only” for medication management into rich therapeutic interactions. She outlines specific techniques drawn from Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that you can start implementing in office visits right away

Smartphone Apps as Adjuncts for Substance Use Treatment

December 10, 2020

Rehan Aziz, MD.

Rehan Aziz, MD. Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Aziz has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Smartphone apps are a useful, patient-centered resource for continued substance use treatment. We’ll explore the two current FDA-cleared SUD treatment apps as well as other popular ones on the market to help you determine the best approach for discussing these apps with your patients.

EXPERT Q&A

Alternative Therapies for SUDs

December 10, 2020

Steven Novella, MD

Steven Novella, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Novella has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Not all alternative therapies are created equal. In this interview with Dr. Steven Novella, we discuss the prevalence of alternative therapies among patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) as well as the state of evidence for (or against) commonly utilized forms of complementary and alternative treatments for SUDs.

When to Stop Addiction Treatment: How Long Is Enough?

December 10, 2020

Michael Weaver, MD, FASAM.

Michael Weaver, MD, FASAM. Professor and medical director at the Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions, University of Texas Medical School. Dr. Weaver has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Addiction is often lifelong phenomenon, but many patients may still wish to end treatment. We discuss the reasons why a patient might ask to “complete” their treatment and provide you with strategies for talking with patients about ceasing therapeutic treatments for substance use disorders.

Under the Pandemic Influence

October 21, 2020

Stay-at-home orders in many US states, which began in early 2020, have been associated with increased alcohol sales, particularly via online outlets. The World Health Organization issued a warning in April 2020 that alcohol use may potentially exacerbate poor health during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. How has the pandemic influenced individuals’ drinking behavior, and which groups have felt this influence the most?