8^th World Congress on Addictive Disorders & Addiction Therapy May 09-10, 2019 London, UK

Biography:

Abstract:

Objectives: The goal of this session is to present the use of treatment of teenagers in recovery to help reduce and prevent substance abuse in middle- and high-school students. Methods: Drug Story Theater (DST) takes teenagers in the early stages of recovery and teaches them improvisational theater and psychodrama with which they craft their own shows about the seduction of, addiction to, and recovery from drugs and alcohol. They perform these shows for middle schools and high schools so the treatment of one becomes the prevention of many. In between each scene, the teenagers step out of character and create a PowerPoint presentation on the adolescent brain. The audience takes a pre- and postshow survey, which is then collated and analyzed. Five teenagers and three parents created and performed a play called “The Price You Pay.” Results: Students (N = 1,303) were surveyed, and 1,099 answered whether marijuana was addictive or not. Students (43 percent) thought marijuana was addictive before seeing the show, and 60 percent thought that it was addictive after the show (grade 6: 146/26 pre and 175/13 post; grade 9: 164/125 pre and 232/80 post; grade 10: 156/177 pre and 199/134 post; grade 11: 88/106 pre and 112/75 post; and grade 12: 65/146 pre and 111/93 post). Perception shifted in high-school students from 31 percent who thought marijuana was addictive before the show to 54 percent who perceived marijuana as addictive after the show (P < 0.05). Sixth-grade students (71 percent of 212) thought that marijuana was addictive before viewing the show, and 87.3 percent thought that marijuana was addictive after seeing the show. Sixth graders (17 of 31) who did not think marijuana was addictive before they saw the show changed their minds (54 percent; P < 0.01). Students (43.4 percent) in grades 9–12 knew the function of the prefrontal cortex; after the show, 69 percent answered correctly. Students in grades 9–12 (36 percent) knew the function of oxytocin; after the show, 78.3 percent answered correctly. In one school, there was a 3–5 percent reduction in substance use 30 days after seeing The Price You Pay. Conclusions: The perception that marijuana is addictive declined from grades 6 to 12. This perception can be influenced by seeing teenagers in recovery performing a play and teaching about the brain, facilitating prevention of substance use. This model can be replicated in a culture-specific way, creating DST Troupes wherever teenagers are exposed to drugs and alcohol. More research is needed to assess whether the decrease of substance use is sustainable.

Biography:

Abstract:

Background and aims: While the literature indicates that gamblers present different motivational, cognitive and emotional profiles depending on the type of game played, few studies to date have examine these variables in skill gamblers versus in non-exclusive skill gamblers. Thus, this study aimed to compare the relationship between gambling motives, cognitive distortions, negative emotional states and gambling severity both in skill and mixed gamblers (both skill games and games of luck).

Methods: A total of 291 regular male gamblers (229 skill gamblers and 62 mixed gamblers) were recruited and assessed for gambling severity using the South Oaks Gambling Screen, gambling motives using the Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial, cognitive distortions using the Gambling-Related Cognition Scale and anxiety and depressive symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. Multiple regressions by blocks of variables were conducted to verify if the relationship between these variables is different according to the type of game played.

Results: Multiple regressions analysis have shown that mixed gamblers presented an emotional vulnerability that skill gamblers do not seem to express. These results suggest that anxiety and depression linked with coping motives have been conducted these gamblers to experiment gambling activity and continue this practice problematically due to their negative emotional states and the need to escape them.

Discussion and conclusions: The type of game played should be taken into consideration in clinical interventions, especially because gamblers seem to present different profiles according to whether they practice exclusively skill games or have a mixed game practice.

Biography:

Manuela Pires Rocha: Medical Doctor from Pontificia Universidade Católica de Campinas, attending the 3^rd year of residence in Psychiatry at OSS Hospital Santa Marcelina, São Paulo.

Abstract:

This study proposes to describe family members in the city of Sao Paulo that are currently seeking support in mutual self-help groups to deal with a substance misuse relative. Method: Five hundred participants (one participant by family) completed a structured questionnaire containing socio-demographic information, length of time took for seeking help, and where they search help. Participants were recruited in the mutual self-help group ‘Amor Exigente’ in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Results: Parents of substance misusers  counted as the largest group of family members. It took an average time of 3.7 years for the family members to discover their relatives’ substance misuse 42% had then sought help immediately; it took an average of 2.6 years for the remaining 58% of the sample  to seek some form of support. Physical and psychological forms of distress reported by the families that led to conflicts are the ones associated to the unreliable characteristics of the substance misusers, difficulty to communicate, problems related to money, the provocative attitudes and physical fights. Discussion: A belief that the substance use of their relatives was just a transient problem or that they could cope with the situation by themselves were among the most indicated reasons for delaying seeking help.  Conclusion: Findings stress the importance of implementing services that take into account the different difficulties that families have in finding help to deal with the substance misuse relative. 

Biography:

Clinical Social Work professional with 20 years of experience in clinical and administrative positions, specializing in female addiction, with an emphasis on drug-addicted and dual-diagnosed women and families. Founder of the first single gender Day Center for addicted women, in Israel.

Adjunct Lecturer at Lehman College and at NYU-Silver School of Social Work, teaching addictions, policy, and gender studies.

Abstract:

The relationship between attachment and gender is well researched in social work, as is the influence of insecure attachment on substance use.  However, discussion of the interrelationship among insecure attachment, gender, and drug misuse is sparse in the social work literature, with contradictory findings.  The attachment literature indicates that males and females exposed to the same stressful events may differ in their reaction to stressors and to insecure attachments.  Some studies finds that gender differences emerge in infancy, others argue that they emerge from middle school and onward.  Some authors report that attachment differences may be related to the fact that parents tend to use more emotional language with girls than boys, while other authors report that female children are more prone to discuss their emotions openly than male children.  Regardless of the causal direction, there seems to be agreement that attachment is influenced by gender and that insecure attachment can have unique consequences for girls and women that are heretofore understudied.  This conceptual paper provides an overview of the relationships between attachment, drug use, and gender in an effort to advance our understanding of the role gender plays in female addictions.  Recommendations are also discussed for attachment-based assessment and treatment approaches that may benefit drug-addicted women and their families.

Biography:

Abstract:

Objectives:

To detect differences between female borderline personality disorder (BPD) with and without substance dependence as regards childhood trauma and dissociation.

Methods:

In total, 40 female BPD patients [diagnosed by structured clinical interview of the diagnostic and statistical manual fourth edition (SCID) II] were compared with 40 female BPD patients with substance dependence (diagnosed by SCID I and SCID II) attending the outpatient clinic in Kasr Al-Ainy hospital (Tools: Childhood Traumatic Questionnaire,

Borderline Personality Disorder Severity index, and Dissociative Experience Scale).

Results:

BPD patients had more childhood trauma and dissociative experiences than BPD with substance dependence patients. There was a statistically significant correlation between childhood trauma and dissociative experiences in BPD patients, whereas there was no statistically significant correlation between childhood trauma and dissociative experiences apart from sexual abuse in BPD with substance dependence patients.

Conclusions:

The findings have clinical implications for the management of female BPD with and without substance dependence.

Biography:

Education; Istanbul University School of Medicine, Istanbul Doctor of Medicine, 2001-2007 Erenköy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Specialization in Psychiatry, 2009-2014. Professional Experience: Erenköy Mental Health and Neurology Training and Research Hospital Psychiatry Assistant, 2009-2014, Beykoz State Hospital Psychiatrist, 2015-2016, Director of AMATEM, (Addiction clinic at the hospital), 2016-present Erenköy Mental Health and Neurology Training and Research Hospital

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to determine the factors related to personal and environmental disability during alcohol / substance abuse treatment, with a focus on environmental, family and psychological factors underlying alcohol and substance use in women. The study was designed as a focus group study. Six women undergoing treatment for alcohol or substance use disorders at Erenköy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Training and Research Hospital participated in the study. When the causes of starting to use and continued substance use were examined; family and close environment, traumatic experiences and comorbid mental disorders. The factors that delayed or prevented treatment were insufficient capacity for women in treatment centers, social stigma, financial difficulties, negative experience related to previous treatment, lack of information about treatment. When the motivation to apply for treatment was evaluated, the main reasons were found to be the development of physical withdrawal symptoms, deterioration in family relations and risky behaviors. These results were in line with our expectations.

Biography:

Abstract:

The heroin dependency develope with the perceptions persuade by the drug user through past experiences. The drug users, peers, people in the community and even some service providers develop associations with heroin. Most of the associations connect with primary human motives as well as secondary and social motives of the human beings. The drug users internalize the associations in to their unconscious mind and project perceptions towards drug use. The perceptions create high level of desire to take a particular drug and develop psychological dependency. There is no absolute truth in those perceptions but he drug dependents believe that there is a real relationship between the drug and the associated factor.

From the working sample, 120 selected heroin dependents were admitted for the residential treatment at the Galle treatment and rehabilitation center. The control group of 40 clients had been selected from another treatment and rehabilitation center situated in Kandy. The very first day after the admissions, the desire levels of heroin dependents had been measured using appropriate indicators. During period of the residential treatment program, the counselors extensively used individual and group counseling sessions as well as group discussions to change the perceptions, illogical thinking patters and myths of the heroin users. The past experience re-examine technique was vastly used to re-examine the past experiences of the heroin use of the clients. For the control group we did not do any therapeutic interventions to influences their perceptions, illogical thinking patterns and beliefs of myths. After completion of the treatment program using the same set of indicators the desire levels of both groups were measured. After analyzing the data I found indicated that the desire levels of the working group had been reduced immensely and the clients who belong to the control group has not project much reduction in their desire levels.

Regular monthly follow-up programs were conducted for both groups for one year and at the end of the year I found that those who have reduced the desire levels were living longer periods without consuming heroin and those who have not reduced the desire levels relapsed within few weeks. The clients who belong to the control group were unable to reduce their desire levels and relapsed immediately after releasing from the treatment center. Finally I found strong evidence to prove the hypothesis, that there is a positive relationship between desire levels and heroin dependency.

Biography:

Abstract:

Objectives: The participants will be able to recognize the predictors of Binge Eating addiction among women who suffer from psychological abuse in their relationships and will recognize the role of woman's defense mechanisms in moderating the association between psychological abuse and Binge Eating addiction.

Methods: A convenience sample of 380 Israeli women in relationships were located via the Internet, and after consenting to participate in the study, they completed a series of structured questionnaires (The Yale Food Addiction Scale; The Defense Style Questionnaire; Psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners; Level of Differentiation of Self; sociodemographic questionnaire).

Results: The higher the level of differentiation and mature defense mechanisms, the less addictive a woman is. However, the level of addiction among women who experience psychological abuse with in their intimate relations, is higher than women who do not experience psychological abuse in their relationship. Among women who experienced psychological abuse in their relations, the defense mechanisms moderate the association between psychological abuse within intimate relations and the extent of the addiction to binge eating.

Conclusions

The study contributes to the therapy of women with Binge Eating addictions, as it raises awareness of therapeutic-related content that could strengthen women and help them to cope with situations in their lives without the need to Binge. One of the significant variables for therapeutic work is the level of differentiation of the self.

In addition, Identifying the types of defense mechanisms might help to match treatment to the woman's emotional needs. The current study found also that it is important to identify the environmental systems by which the addict is surrounded, such as whether woman is in an abusive relationship.

Biography:

Abstract:

Background: Over 35 million people use opioids for medicinal or recreational purposes. Opioid overdose is well known to cause death. However, there is a dearth of data on the long-term health effects of opioids, including opium itself. Therefore, we compared overall and cause-specific mortality of long-term opium users to non-users. 

Methods: Detailed and validated data on opium use were obtained at baseline from 50,045 participants of the Golestan Cohort Study. Data were also collected on other covariates, including sex, age, tobacco and alcohol use, education, and income.

Results: At baseline, 17% (n=8,487) of the study participants reported ever using opium, of whom 89.8% were current users. During 500,718 person-years of follow-up, 6,466 of the participants died. Ever use of opium was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality, with an adjusted HR (95% CI) of 1.68 (1.58-1.79). It was also significantly associated with higher risk of death from ischemic heart disease (1.92; 95% CI 1.66-2.22), cerebrovascular disease (1.41; 1.17-1.71), cancers of the esophagus (1.47; 1.07-2.02) and stomach (1.44; 1.04-1.98), COPD (4.38; 2.95-6.51), asthma (2.96; 1.39-6.30), liver disease (2.83; 1.72-4.63), and infectious diseases (1.72; 1.22-2.42). The associations persisted after stringent sensitivity analyses. Overall, 40% of deaths among opium users, and 10% of all deaths in this population were attributable to opium use. 

Conclusions: Together, these results strongly suggest that chronic opium use causes numerous chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and several forms of cancer. Future studies in other populations using these and other forms of opioids are urgently needed.

Biography:

Abstract:

Though the primary focus on addiction treatment research has been driven by psychopharmacological interventions, a solid psychophysiology research exists demonstrating that neurofeedback brain-training dramatically improves multiple recovery factors when applied in treatment populations.  Barriers to broad-based implementation in clinical and subclinical settings include cost of equipment, lengthy and in-depth training requirements, and a lack of clear guidance in developing and implementing brain-training protocols specific to each individuals brain-phenotype.  Automated Psychophysiological assessment and EEG Biofeedback training systems have been demonstrated to be equally efficacious as clinician-guided EEG Systems.  We propose that Automated EEG Biofeedback systems have developed to assess and treat a multiplicity of brain-phenotypes related to addiction.  We propose that automated EEG Biofeedback systems provide a front-line, easy-to-apply, psycho-physiological adjunct therapy that will increase recovery potential in nearly all addiction treatment models.  The aim of this report is to illuminate the broad understandings of automated neurofeedback brain-training as a utile primary intervention in mental health and addiction clinical and sub-clinical settings

Biography:

Abstract: