Geoffrey Curran, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science, and colleagues followed 710 stimulant users from rural parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ohio. Participants were asked about treatment use at the study’s start and again at six-month intervals for three years. At the three-year mark, “[a] majority of participants who completed all seven interviews were most likely to receive no substance abuse or mental health services while they participated in the study.” Those who did seek treatment were more likely to use mental health than specialized substance abuse services. The study appears in the October issue of Psychiatric Services and can be read at http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/62/10/1230.
For an in-depth review of the latest knowledge in treating abuse of cocaine and methamphetamine, see the new book from American Psychiatric Publishing, Cocaine and Methamphetamine Dependence: Advances in Treatment. Information on the book is posted at www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62407.
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