MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorder: is it feasible?

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Anya Borissova reviews a recent UK pilot study which suggests that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is a feasible intervention to use in people with alcohol use disorder. Now we need randomised trials that can reliably measure safety and effectiveness.

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Amphetamine-like stimulant use: what do we know about who uses them and how drug using careers develop?

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Harry Sumnall considers a systematic narrative review, which looks at the individual, social and environmental influences that shape key phases in the amphetamine-like stimulant use trajectory

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Can MDMA and compassionate imagery therapy help increase self-compassion?

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Paul Christiansen reports on a small naturalistic experimental study of MDMA (Ecstasy) and compassionate imagery therapy to increase self-compassion and reduce self-criticism. He concludes that existing UK drug laws make this a challenging environment in which to create an evidence base.

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CBT for substance misuse in young people

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Eleanor Kennedy summarises a Campbell systematic review of CBT for substance misuse in young people in outpatient treatment, which is inconclusive in terms of CBT being more or less effective than other therapies.

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Impaired inhibitory control in addiction

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Maartje Luijten, Assistant Professor at the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University, writes her debut blog on a recent meta-analysis of deficits in behavioural inhibition in substance abuse and addiction.

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Meta-analysis points to significant association between ecstasy use and risky sexual behaviour

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To date, ecstasy use has been very much associated with young people and clubbing, but some research has shown that the environments in which it is taken is now beginning to broaden. Lifetime prevalence rates for the drug are around 10% in the US and 8.6% in the UK according to 2010 EMCDDA estimates. The [read the full story…]