Illicit substance use is dangerous in both acute and chronic forms, frequently resulting in lethal poisoning, addiction, and other negative consequences. Similar to research in other psychiatric conditions, whose ultimate goal is to enable effective prevention and treatment, studies in substance use are focused on factors elevating the risk for the disorder. The rapid growth of the substance use problem despite the effort invested in fighting it, however, suggests the need in changing the research approach. Instead of attempting to identify risk factors, whose neutralization is often infeasible if not impossible, it may be more promising to systematically reverse the perspective to the factors enhancing the aspect of liability to disorder that shares the same dimension but is opposite to risk, that is, resistance to substance use. Resistance factors, which enable the majority of the population to remain unaffected despite the ubiquity of psychoactive substances, may be more amenable to translation. While the resistance aspect of liability is symmetric to risk, the resistance approach requires substantial changes in sampling (high-resistance rather than high-risk) and using quantitative indices of liability. This article provides an overview and a practical approach to research in resistance to substance use/addiction, currently implemented in a NIH-funded project. The project benefits from unique opportunities afforded by the data originating from two longitudinal twin studies, the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent and Behavioral Development and the Minnesota Twin Family Study. The methodology described is also applicable to other psychiatric disorders.

Lack of motivation for the treatment of drug addiction is associated with dropout and relapses. Further, personality disorders (PD) have traditionally been linked to low motivation and therapeutic failure. Thus, the present study aims to analyze the structure of the Motivation for Treatment Questionnaire (MTQ–8), as well as to determine differences in motivation due to the presence of PD and the impact of psychological adjustment on motivation. The sample included 125 patients (84% male) who started a treatment for their addiction to cocaine and alcohol. Rasch analysis was applied for the first objective, and means contrast and regression analysis for the others. The two subscales of the MTQ–8 fit the Rasch model, with appropriate psychometric characteristics when merging Items 5 and 7. The presence of PD was not associated with reduced motivation. Motivation for treatment was greater when abstinence was less than three weeks, and psychological distress predicted motivation for treatment. The present study confirms that MTQ–8 subscales are suitable for measuring motivation for treatment and readiness for change in drug-dependent patients. It is noted that the presence of PD should not be associated with a lower level of motivation, and that psychological distress influences motivation.

Two clinical observations of mianserin abuse by psychiatric out-patients are described. A previous history of substance dependence was found in both cases. Mianserin should be used with caution in predisposed patients, before further studies on the subject are carried out.

Psychiatric comorbidity in alcoholics admitted to a rehabilitation center on either a voluntary or a coerced basis were studied. A group of 104 alcoholics (37 coerced and 35 voluntarily admitted men; and 21 coerced and ten voluntarily admitted women) with a mean age (SD) of 43 ± 8 years were assessed by means of a Structural Clinical Interview in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-III-R (SCID). The interview took place a mean of 7 days after admission. The frequencies of lifetime/current axis I psychiatric comorbidity (substance use disorders excluded) were 66 and 61%, respectively. Drug dependence was present in 41 and 39%, respectively, of the cases. Thirty-seven percent had a lifetime diagnosis, and 33% a current diagnosis of affective disorders, 27 and 23%, respectively, of anxiety disorders and 20 and 13%, respectively, of non-organic psychotic disorders. In a subsample of 20 subjects, depressive symptoms were found to be stable during the course of treatment. No differences in frequency of psychiatric comorbidity were found between coerced and voluntarily admitted patients (67 and 56%, respectively) or between men and women (65 and 52%, respectively). The combination of psychiatric comorbidity and drug dependence was overrepresented among the coerced patients (50 vs 16%). It was concluded that the frequencies of psychiatric comorbidity were high in the present group. The co-occurrence of alcohol dependence, drug dependence and psychiatric comorbidity was more frequent among subjects who were coercively treated.

Heroin has been prescribed in England for the treatment of heroin addiction for almost 100 years. For many years, England was almost the only country where this occurred, and the British system was consequently the subject of international curiosity. In spite of this long history, very little research has been carried out locally, and until recently, there were no guidelines as to best practice. In 1965, it was decided that only doctors with a Home Office license could prescribe heroin. Since that time, the proportion of opiate addicts treated with heroin has greatly diminished, as has the number of doctors willing to prescribe. One doctor in particular remained an enthusiastic proponent of heroin prescription. His claims impressed some Swiss clinicians, who proceeded to establish a multicentre trial in Switzerland. This was followed by a similar trial in the Netherlands. These trials apparently indicated that a proportion of treatment-resistant opiate addicts could respond well to heroin, although the researchers' conclusions have been disputed. The National Treatment Agency in England is now developing guidelines for good practice based on this new information and is planning to set up some pilot sites. It is likely that practise in England will remain somewhat different from continental practice, particularly with respect to long-term supervised injecting. It is unclear how much funding will be released to support heroin prescription. Without adequate funding, it is likely to disappear.

Objectives: The study reports on benzodiazepine use among opiate dependent patients attending National Health Service community prescribing services and examines current practice in the clinical management of benzodiazepine dependence.

Method: A postal questionnaire survey of 174 NHS substance misuse services in England and Wales.

Results: A 71% response rate was achieved. Services estimated the prevalence of benzodiazepine use to be 40% and the prevalence of benzodiazepine dependence to be less than 25% among opiate dependent patients in treatment. Illicit supplies (street) and general practitioners were regarded as the most common source of benzodiazepines. The most commonly reported reasons for benzodiazepine use were for the direct intoxicating effects and for the treatment of anxiety/insomnia. The majority of services (93,75%) reported prescribing benzodiazepines to patients for benzodiazepine detoxification while 43 (35%) reported prescribing for benzodiazepine maintenance treatment. The variations in benzodiazepine prescribing practices across services are described.

Conclusions: Benzodiazepine use remains common among opiate addicts in contact with treatment services. The majority of services surveyed reported prescribing benzodiazepines but there was much variation in clinical practice nationally. There is need for further research to identify effective treatment approaches for comorbid benzodiazepine dependence in opiate misusers.

To determine if the P300 component of the event-related potential indexes risk for substance use and related disorders, we presented a community sample of 377 16–18-year-old males a visual oddball task and selected 31 subjects with the smallest and 31 subjects with the largest P300 amplitudes. An additional 31 subjects whose amplitudes fell in the middle of the amplitude distribution were assigned to the average group. The small and average amplitude groups were more likely to have alcohol dependence and more symptoms of alcohol dependence than the large amplitude subjects. The small amplitude group had more symptoms of illicit drug dependence than the other groups. There was also a significantly larger proportion of subjects with externalizing disorders in the small amplitude group than in the large P300 group. These findings suggest that P300 amplitude may index a spectrum of risk for disinhibited psychopathology.

A case is described of a severe depressive episode following withdrawal from anabolic steroids which were being misused to enhance body-building. The subject was a twenty-two year old unemployed male who had left school without formal qualifications and had been brought up by his grandparents since his parents' separation. He had been a bodybuilder for four years and misused combinations of oral and parenteral anabolic steroids in increasing doses for two years. His depressive symptoms included lowered mood, loss of energy, anhedonia, suicidal preoccupations, disturbed sleep, poor appetite and impaired concentration. It is proposed that unusually prolonged exposure to steroids followed by withdrawal was the most likely cause of the depression in this case and that biological vulnerability to affective disorder may explain the severity of the episode. Misuse of steroids needs to be considered in young physically active people presenting with depression.