[The psychosocial rehabilitation in addiction medicine]. / La réhabilitation psychosociale en addictologie.

OBJECTIVES: Addictive behaviors constitute complex behaviors that are usually related to social habits, such as substance use, gambling or gaming activities, or sexual or physical activity. They progressively overrun and stifle the routine habits of the concerned individuals, for example within their occupational or family spheres of life, as well as in their hobbies or in their main physiological functions, such as sleep or eating cycles. The rehabilitation approach of care integrates the objective of restoring the altered habits and functional rhythms, to optimize the clinical outcomes and improve quality of life of the concerned persons. METHODS: Using a focused and narrative literature review, we aimed to explain what psychosocial rehabilitation consists in, and why this approach is particularly relevant for the addiction care, although to date it has remained insufficiently developed in the routine practice of many facilities. RESULTS: The "rehab" approach, is first based on a structured and comprehensive assessment of the clinical and functional aspects of the patient, which secondarily allows to frame an individualized project of care that is closely built together with the patient. This project of care can integrate classical pharmacotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic tools, but it also emphasizes wider approaches for restoring some basic social and physiological functions of the concerned person, such as sleep, eating, social functioning, physical activity, or spiritual needs. Priorities among these different dimensions have to be defined by the concerned person. CONCLUSIONS: The "rehab" approach is particularly relevant in addiction medicine. It represents a more global conception of care that conceives the recovery of social and physiological functioning as a core treatment objective for the concerned persons. The consequences for care organization are that many additional professionals should be integrated into the treatment schemes for addiction, including peer counselors, occupational therapists, physical activity coaches, or dieticians.

Current state of cannabis use, policies, and research across sixteen countries: cross-country comparisons and international perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Varying public views on cannabis use across countries may explain the variation in the prevalence of use, policies, and research in individual countries, and global regulation of cannabis. This paper aims to describe the current state of cannabis use, policies, and research across sixteen countries. METHODS: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for studies published from 2010 to 2020. Searches were conducted using the relevant country of interest as a search term (e.g., "Iran"), as well as relevant predefined keywords such as "cannabis," "marijuana," "hashish," "bhang "dual diagnosis," "use," "addiction," "prevalence," "co-morbidity," "substance use disorder," "legalization" or "policy" (in English and non-English languages). These keywords were used in multiple combinations to create the search string for studies' titles and abstracts. Official websites of respective governments and international organizations were also searched in English and non-English languages (using countries national languages) to identify the current state of cannabis use, policies, and research in each of those countries. RESULTS: The main findings were inconsistent and heterogeneous reporting of cannabis use, variation in policies (e.g., legalization), and variation in intervention strategies across the countries reviewed. European countries dominate the cannabis research output indexed on PubMed, in contrast to Asian countries (Thailand, Malaysia, India, Iran, and Nepal). CONCLUSIONS: Although global cannabis regulation is ongoing, the existing heterogeneities across countries in terms of policies and epidemiology can increase the burden of cannabis use disorders disproportionately and unpredictably. There is an urgent need to develop global strategies to address these cross-country barriers to improve early detection, prevention, and interventions for cannabis use and related disorders.

Current state of cannabis use, policies, and research across sixteen countries: cross-country comparisons and international perspectives

Abstract Introduction Varying public views on cannabis use across countries may explain the variation in the prevalence of use, policies, and research in individual countries, and global regulation of cannabis. This paper aims to describe the current state of cannabis use, policies, and research across sixteen countries. Methods PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for studies published from 2010 to 2020. Searches were conducted using the relevant country of interest as a search term (e.g., "Iran"), as well as relevant predefined keywords such as "cannabis," "marijuana," "hashish," "bhang "dual diagnosis," "use," "addiction," "prevalence," "co-morbidity," "substance use disorder," "legalization" or "policy" (in English and non-English languages). These keywords were used in multiple combinations to create the search string for studies' titles and abstracts. Official websites of respective governments and international organizations were also searched in English and non-English languages (using countries national languages) to identify the current state of cannabis use, policies, and research in each of those countries. Results The main findings were inconsistent and heterogeneous reporting of cannabis use, variation in policies (e.g., legalization), and variation in intervention strategies across the countries reviewed. European countries dominate the cannabis research output indexed on PubMed, in contrast to Asian countries (Thailand, Malaysia, India, Iran, and Nepal). Conclusions Although global cannabis regulation is ongoing, the existing heterogeneities across countries in terms of policies and epidemiology can increase the burden of cannabis use disorders disproportionately and unpredictably. There is an urgent need to develop global strategies to address these cross-country barriers to improve early detection, prevention, and interventions for cannabis use and related disorders.

Access to Healthcare and Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic for People Who Use Drugs.

: Globally, there are concerns about access to healthcare and harm reduction services for people who use drugs (PWUD) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Members from the Network of Early Career Professionals working in Addiction Medicine shared their experiences of providing treatment to PWUD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on these qualitative reports, we highlight the similarities and discrepancies in access to services for PWUD in 16 countries under COVID-10 restrictions. In most countries reported here, efforts have been made to ensure continued access to services, such as mobilising opioid agonist maintenance treatment and other essential medicines to patients. However, due to travel restrictions and limited telemedicine services, several Network of Early Career Professionals working in Addiction Medicine members from lower-resourced countries experienced challenges with providing care to their patients during periods of COVID-19 lock-down. The insights provided in this commentary illustrate how the COVID-19 lock-down restrictions have impacted access to services for PWUD.

The Changing Landscape of Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Perspectives of Early Career Professionals in 16 Countries.

: Alcohol use is a major risk factor for infectious disease and reduction of harms associated with alcohol consumption are essential during times of humanitarian crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As a network of early career professionals working in the area of addiction medicine, we provide our views with regards to national actions related to reducing alcohol-related harm and providing care for people with alcohol use disorder during COVID-19. We believe that COVID-19 related measures have affected alcohol consumption in the majority of countries represented in this commentary. Examples of these changes include changes in alcohol consumption patterns, increases in cases of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, disruptions in access to medical care for alcohol use disorder and increases in illegal production of alcohol. Our members urge that treatment for acute and severe conditions due to substance use should be considered as essential services in times of humanitarian crises like COVID-19.

A Patient-Tailored Evidence-Based Approach for Developing Early Neuropsychological Training Programs in Addiction Settings.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are associated with impairments of cognitive functions, and cognitive training programs are thus rapidly developing in SUD treatment. However, neuropsychological impairments observed early after withdrawal (i.e., early impairments), that is, approximately in the first six months, may be widespread. Consequently, it might not be possible to train all the identified early impairments. In these situations, we propose that the priority of cognitive training should be given to the early impairments found to be associated with early dropout or relapse (i.e., relapse-related impairments). However, substance-specific relapse-related impairments have not been singled out among all early impairments so far. Using a systematic literature search, we identified the types of established early impairments for all SUDs, and we assessed the extent to which these early impairments were found to be associated with relapse-related impairments. All cognitive functions were investigated according to a classification based on current neuropsychological models, distinguishing classical cognitive, substance-bias, and social cognition systems. According to the current evidence, demonstrated relapse-related impairments in alcohol use disorder comprised impulsivity, long-term memory, and higher-order executive functions. For cannabis use disorder, the identified relapse-related impairments were impulsivity and working memory. For stimulant use disorder, the identified relapse-related impairments were attentional abilities and higher-order executive functions. For opioid use disorder, the only identified relapse-related impairments were higher executive functions. However, many early impairments were not explored with respect to dropout/relapse, particularly for stimulant and opioid use disorders. The current literature reveals substance-specific relapse-related impairments, which supports a pragmatic patient-tailored approach for defining which early impairments should be prioritized in terms of training among patients with SUDs.

Psychological stress exerts an adjuvant effect on skin dendritic cell functions in vivo.

Psychological stress affects the pathophysiology of infectious, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases. However, the mechanisms by which stress could modulate immune responses in vivo are poorly understood. In this study, we report that application of a psychological stress before immunization exerts an adjuvant effect on dendritic cell (DC), resulting in increased primary and memory Ag-specific T cell immune responses. Acute stress dramatically enhanced the skin delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to haptens, which is mediated by CD8(+) CTLs. This effect was due to increased migration of skin DCs, resulting in augmented CD8(+) T cell priming in draining lymph nodes and enhanced recruitment of CD8(+) T cell effectors in the skin upon challenge. This adjuvant effect of stress was mediated by norepinephrine (NE), but not corticosteroids, as demonstrated by normalization of the skin delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction and DC migratory properties following selective depletion of NE. These results suggest that release of NE by sympathetic nerve termini during a psychological stress exerts an adjuvant effect on DC by promoting enhanced migration to lymph nodes, resulting in increased Ag-specific T cell responses. Our findings may open new ways in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, e.g., psoriasis, allergic contact dermatitis, and atopic dermatitis.