11^th World congress on Addictive Disorders & Addiction Therapy September 12-13, 2022 London, UK

The recent recognition of the global importance of mental disorders has put psychiatry firmly on the international health agenda. The World Health Organization has estimated that neuropsychiatric disorders and suicide account for 12.7% of the global burden of disease. Major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, alcohol misuse, and obsessive compulsive disorder account for five of the 10 leading causes of disability in low and middle income countries. In high income countries, dementia is the third most common neuropsychiatric disorder.

Eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating habits that negatively affect a person's physical and/or mental health. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe disturbances in people’s eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions. Preoccupation with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.

Most eating disorders involve focusing too much on your weight, body shape and food, leading to dangerous eating behaviors. These behaviors can significantly impact your body's ability to get appropriate nutrition. Eating disorders can harm the heart, digestive system, bones, and teeth and mouth, and lead to other diseases. Eating disorders often develop in the teen and young adult years, although they can develop at other ages.

Neuropsychiatry is the interface between neuroscience and behavioral disorders. It is the study of effective diagnosis and treatment for patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. It deals critical subjects such as Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson disease, epilepsy, and seizure disorders, and is devoted to reporting discoveries in clinical neuroscience that are relevant to understanding the brain based disorders of patients.

Clinical psychiatry is a specialization in using clinical practices in the treatment of mental illnesses and disorders, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and addictions. Clinical psychiatrists evaluate, diagnose and treat patients with mental disorders. They may work in offices, hospitals or mental health clinics. Clinical psychiatrists may prescribe medication or suggest therapy according to their patents' needs.

According to World Drugs report for 2012, 230 million people around the world 1 in 20 in US took illicit drugs in the last year. The report also says that problem drug users, mainly heroin and cocaine-dependent people number about 27 million, roughly 0.6% of the world adult population. That’s 1 in every 200 people. The harmful use of alcohol results in 3.3 million deaths each year. On average every person in the world aged 15 years or older drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per year. Less than half the population (38.3%) actually drinks alcohol, this means that those who do drink consume on average 17 litres of pure alcohol annually. At least 15.3 million persons have drug use disorders. Injecting drug use reported in 148 countries, of which 120 report HIV infection among this population. Current Addiction Reports offers expert reviews on the latest progress on the prevention, assessment and diagnosis, and treatment of addiction.

Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior. It is distinguished from Neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes the correlation between drug-induced changes in the functioning of cells in the nervous system and changes in consciousness and behavior.

Neurotoxin is a poisonous substance that damages tissues within the central nervous system; produced by certain bacteria or by the cellular deterioration of some bacteria. Other naturally occurring neurotoxins are present in the venom of some snakes, the spines of particular shells, or the skin of a shellfish or fish. Many drugs and chemicals are also neurotoxic. Neurotoxicology is the study of these agents.

Stress is a complex condition with emotional, cognitive, and biological factors. Excessive stress causes long- and short-term disability in the various human systems, and activates the defence system of the central nervous system. The stress responses differ depending on the type of stress and the individual's physiological responses. These latter responses consist of neuro-endocrine and behavioral responses, and include the changes in the activity and immune function of the Hypothalamo Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis. Stress and anxiety often lead to insomnia and sleep problems.

Sleep is an important component of human homeostasis. Sleep disorders are closely associated with significant medical, psychological and social disturbances. Chronic sleep restriction is an increasing problem in many countries. Since the body's stress systems play a critical role in adapting to a continuously changing and challenging environment, it is an important question whether these systems are affected by sleep loss.

Problematic social media use, also known as social media addiction or social media overuse, is a proposed form of psychological or behavioral dependence on social media platforms, also known as Internet addiction disorder, and other forms of digital media overuse. It is generally defined as the compulsive use of social media platforms that results in significant impairment in an individual's function in various life domains over a prolonged period. Excessive social media use has not been recognized as a disorder by the World Health Organization or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

Controversies around problematic social media use include whether the disorder is a separate clinical entity or a manifestation of underlying psychiatric disorders. Many studies on social media usage and mental health have shown that the prolonged use of social media such as Facebook is positively associated with mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression and negatively associated with long-term well-being.

Nicotine dependence is a state of dependence upon nicotine. Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical found in the tobacco plant. Nicotine dependence is a chronic, relapsing disease defined as a compulsive craving to use the drug, despite harmful social consequences. Tolerance is another component of drug dependence. Nicotine dependence develops over time as a person continues to use nicotine. There is an increased frequency of nicotine dependence in people with anxiety disorders. But besides nicotine, tobacco cigarettes and smokeless tobacco contain many cancer-causing agents and other harmful chemicals. The nearly 4,000 chemicals found in tobacco have physical, mental, and psychological effects. Using tobacco leads to grave health complications, including lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, leukemia, heart disease, stroke etc.., Nicotine dependence is a serious public health concern due to it being one of the leading causes of avoidable deaths worldwide.

Alcohol and substance abuse are two problems that are incredibly common among all age groups and people from all backgrounds, both on their own and in combination with one another. People who struggle with alcohol abuse or addiction frequently use other substances as well, which may include prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, or illicit street drugs. When multiple substances are combined, it amplifies the risk of adverse side effects, as well as overdose and death. Alcohol and substance abuse that occur together are often referred to as Polydrug abuse or Polysubstance abuse, and for someone who regularly engages in the mixing of alcohol and , itsubstances’s referred to as chronic Polysubstance abuse.

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder affecting 20 million people worldwide. Schizophrenia is characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behaviour. Common experiences include hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing things that are not there) and delusions (fixed false beliefs). People with schizophrenia are 2-3 times more likely to die early than the general population. When coupled with substance addiction, these two conditions can be dangerous and even deadly. This co-occurrence has been a heavily debated topic for decades. Most researchers feel substances such as drugs and alcohol do not cause schizophrenia; instead, people living with mental illness use substances as a coping mechanism. However, some researchers have also concluded that it could occur the other way around and have found that substance abuse can increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental health disorder that can cause above-normal levels of hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. People with ADHD may also have trouble focusing their attention on a single task or sitting still for long periods of time. Both adults and children can have ADHD.

The risk for developing an addiction is exceptionally high during the adolescent and young adult years, and worldwide families and communities are suffering because of addiction's widespread impact. An overwhelming majority of those addicted to illicit drugs like opium, heroin and cheaper synthetic substances fall between 15 and 35 years old. Studies indicate that young people are four times more likely to become addicts. As we grow up, brain determines which biochemical it needs to stay healthy. The most important of these chemicals called Neurotransmitters. They play a major role in everyday functions like eating, sleeping and overall mood. When drugs are introduced to a developing mind, the brain may mistake the substances as important neurotransmitters. The brain then programs itself to depend on these substances to perform certain functions, causing the individual to crave drugs.

Drug abuse can cause a variety of long-term problems for teens. The most severe consequence is death whether it’s by overdose, traffic accidents, crime-related activity or other causes. When left untreated, drug or alcohol addiction can cause potentially fatal health issues, including stroke, heart disease and liver failure. Teens who abuse drugs get into accidents at a high rate. They die from suicide, accidents and illness much more often than teens who avoid drugs. Adolescents who share needles and other drug paraphernalia can contract diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV. Many drugs also damage the body’s immune system, making it more difficult to recover from minor illnesses.

Addictive disorders, such as substance abuse and dependence, are common disorders that involve the overuse of alcohol and drugs. Addiction develops over time and is a chronic and relapsing illness. In most cases, people with addictions frequently suffer from a mental illness, such as depression, anxiety or another disorder. Addictive disorders are caused by multiple factors, including genetic vulnerability, environmental stressors, social pressures, individual personality characteristics and psychiatric problems.

From a neurological standpoint, addictive disorders arise when a substance changes the way the user’s brain feels pleasure. Addictive substances alter the brain’s ability to send and receive chemicals called neurotransmitters, which cause pleasure. The addictive substances can prevent nerves in the brain (called neurons) from receiving these neurotransmitters, meaning the drug user relies on the drug, rather than his or her natural brain chemicals, for feelings of pleasure.

Anxiety disorders are mental health conditions that involve excessive amounts of anxiety, fear, nervousness, worry, or dread. Anxiety that is too constant or too intense can cause a person to feel preoccupied, distracted, tense, and always on alert. . They affect people of all age’s adults, children, and teens. Anxiety disorders often co-occur with depression as well as eating disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and others. Anxiety disorders have consistently been associated with an increase in suicidal behavior in cross-sectional community and clinical studies.

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. adults experience major depressive disorder. Women are 70% more likely than men to experience depression during their lifetime. Persistent depressive disorders, including chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder, are characterized by chronic sadness and other symptoms of major depression.

Affective disorders, Substance misuse, Anxiety disorders, Depression, certain personality disorders, and psychotic disorders are all established risk factors for suicide attempts. Anxiety disorders, especially panic disorder and PTSD, are associated with suicide attempts. 

Child psychology is one of the many branches of psychology and one of the most frequently studied specialty areas. This particular branch focuses on the mind and behavior of children from prenatal development through adolescence. Child psychology deals not only with how children grow physically, but with their mental, emotional, and social development as well. The major subjects that are essential to the study of child psychology are Cognitive development, Environmental influences, Gender Roles, Genetics, Language, Personality development, Prenatal development, Social Growth, Sexual Development.

Mental health in childhood means reaching developmental and emotional milestones, and learning healthy social skills and how to cope when there are problems. Mental health problems affect about 1 in 10 children and young people. They include depression, anxiety and conduct disorder, and are often a direct response to what is happening in their lives. Neuropsychiatric conditions are the leading cause of disability in young people in all regions. The emotional wellbeing of children is just as important as their physical health. Good mental health allows children and young people to develop the resilience to cope with whatever life throws at them and grow into well-rounded, healthy adults.

Psychiatric nursing or Mental health nursing is the appointed nurse specialises in mental health, and cares for people of all ages experiencing mental illnesses or distress. These include: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts, psychosis, paranoia, self-harm, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Nurses in this area receive specific training in psychological therapies, building a therapeutic alliance, dealing with challenging behaviour, and the administration of psychiatric medication.

Like psychiatric nurses, mental health nurses work closely with patients who have mental health issues. They are experts in assessing, diagnosing, and treating psychiatric problems. Mental health nurses work as part of a team to provide total medical care for patients. Some common duties for mental health nurses include Evaluating mental health needs of patients Developing treatment plans, Providing psychotherapy services, Providing personal care, Coordinating with families, doctors, and other health professionals, Administering medications.

Psychotic disorders are a group of syndromes characterized by positive symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder; and negative symptoms, including mood symptoms, social withdrawal, and reduced motivation. Cognitive deficits also appear with psychotic disorders. Psychotic disorders rank 22nd in the World Health Organization's list of worldwide causes of disability.  This ranking is adjusted for the relatively low lifetime prevalence rate for psychosis; the perceived burden of the disease on those affected with psychotic disorders, as well as their relatives and caregivers, is much higher. Some symptoms are present, albeit in an attenuated form, prior to the onset of a diagnosable disorder. Features of psychotic disorders are detectable in the general population and are referred to as schizotypal traits, representing a normally distributed trait of risk for psychosis.

A recent large study of patients in their first episode of psychosis found a 74% lifetime prevalence of a substance use disorder, with 62% of the sample presenting at baseline with current substance use. Alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis are the predominant substances abused by patients with psychotic disorders. A US epidemiology study reported the risk for substance use as 4.6 fold higher in patients with schizophrenia compared with the general population. Even in Sweden, where there are tight restrictions on the sale of alcohol, patient consumption far exceeds rates reported in the general population.

Behavioral addictions or non-substance addictions, like gambling addiction, are a set of behaviors that a person becomes dependent on and craves. This is also known as Non-Substance Addictions or addictive behaviors, there are certain actions out there that people have found to be addictive. These can include Food, Gaming, Plastic Surgery, Sex, Social Media, Gambling, Internet, Risks, Shopping, Pornograpy. Behavioral addictions have similar effects to substance addictions on relationships, which are often neglected in favour of the addictive behavior, undermining trust and putting pressure on partners and other family members to cover up and make up for difficulties arising from the addiction.

Drug-induced psychosis, also known as substance-induced psychotic disorder, is simply any psychotic episode that is related to the abuse of an intoxicant. This can occur from taking too much of a certain drug, having an adverse reaction after mixing substances, during withdrawal from a drug, or if the individual has underlying mental health issues.  Substance abuse is defined as any use of an illicit intoxicant, any use of prescription medication outside the direction of a doctor, or excessive use of legal substances such as alcohol. Though it’s not actually true that taking a certain kind of drug can suddenly trigger a severe mental illness where none had existed, mental illness is a predictor of substance abuse, and someone prone to psychosis can be triggered by becoming overly intoxicated.

Brain tumors, cysts, or untreated HIV or syphilis can also cause psychosis. When an individual has a mental illness that already has the potential to include psychosis, drug abuse can more easily lead to this symptom. It can be tricky to determine whether the drug abuse triggered the psychosis or whether the early effects of psychosis led to drug abuse. At the same time, certain substances can interact with antipsychotic medications, causing them to become less effective or ineffective, triggering a psychotic episode.

Addiction is a multifaceted problem, but one that can be treated effectively. Addiction therapy methodologies and related researches help addicted individuals stopping compulsive drug seeking and use. Medications can be an important part of treatment to address drug abuse or the mental health aspects underlying substance use. Counseling and behavioral therapies are highly utilized and the best available treatment options for drug abuse. Addiction treatment and enhancing skills of individuals involved in addiction therapy and research to regulate patient’s emotions to enhance readiness to stop addiction and turn their lives in a new direction. Moreover, there are enormous obstacles the doctors, counsellors and scientists face prominently in exploring the individual needs of each patient and providing opportunities to access diverse therapeutic options out in the community as well.

Substance Use Disorders (SUD), characterized by an array of mental, physical, and behavioral symptoms, a great public health concern, claim directly or indirectly the lives of millions of people every year. Alcohol consumption and illicit drug addiction cost around 1.5% of the global burden of disease and it can be as high as 5% in some nations according to recent data. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound effect on the health services globally. The 2019-coronavirus disease (COVID-19), undoubtedly the greatest public health catastrophe of our times, has been making universal concern throughout the world over the past few months and is throwing up several challenges for us in numerous ways.

The primary measures to contain the outbreak, like home confinement and sustained lockdown, are eventually leading to insurmountable economic burden at community level and are propelling the mass to face various unwelcome emotional reactions, psychological difficulties, behavioral changes including excessive substance abuse. On the other hand, people suffering from SUD belong to the marginalized community and are invariably more prone to contract infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Addiction and COVID-19 fuel each other to cause a global public health threat. Resumption of deaddiction service and relaxation of accessibility of prescription drugs are needed. Psychiatrists must be prepared for imminent hike in withdrawal symptoms and addictive behaviors.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing, according to a new WHO survey. The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding. The main psychological impact to date is elevated rates of stress or anxiety. But as new measures and impacts are introduced especially quarantine and its effects on many people’s usual activities, routines or livelihoods levels of loneliness, depression, harmful alcohol and drug use, and self-harm or suicidal behaviour are also expected to rise.

The pandemic is increasing demand for mental health services. Bereavement, isolation, loss of income and fear are triggering mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones. Many people may be facing increased levels of alcohol and drug use, insomnia, and anxiety. Meanwhile, COVID-19 itself can lead to neurological and mental complications, such as delirium, agitation, and stroke. People with pre-existing mental, neurological or substance use disorders are also more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection they may stand a higher risk of severe outcomes and even death.

Addiction psychiatry is a medical sub specialty that focuses on the analysis, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals who suffer from one or a lot of mental illness or disorders associated with addiction. This might embody mental disorders involving legal and non-legal medicine, gambling, sex, food, and different impulse management disorders. Growing amounts of knowledge domain, like the health effects and coverings to habit, have led to advancements within the field of addiction.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Over the course of our life, if we experience mental health problems, our thinking, mood, and behaviour could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry, Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse, Family history of mental health problems.