Substance Abuse

This book discusses the influences, treatment options and health effects of substance abuse. Chapter One examines the phenomenon of alcoholism and alcoholic psychoses in Russia from the late Soviet to post-Soviet period. Chapter Two studies the validity and reliability of alcohol use data collected via the Amazons Mechanical Turk (MTurk), a commonly used tool for social science research. Chapter Three assesses and compares certain parameters of sexual functioning in patients with alcohol dependence syndrome. Chapter Four summarizes the results of two double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot studies conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of mirtazapine for the treatment of persons with comorbid major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder (MDD/AUD). Chapter Five presents a re-offense prevention program which specifically addresses the participants social network composition. Chapter Six reviews the epidemiology of the hepatitis B virus infection among non-injecting drug users. Chapter Seven discusses the macro- and micro-level factors that influence the emergence and sustainability of recovery high schools (RHS) and conclude that both grassroots advocates and policy-makers must consider the myriad ecological forces and their influence on the development of particular recovery support programs.