Heroin Addiction : Prevalence, Treatment Approaches and Health Consequences

This book starts by elaborating on the history of the consumption of heroin in central Asia and how this problem came to be a current epidemic in this part of the world. Adolescents tend to hide their heroin addiction from families until it is out of their control. The impact of hiding a heroin addiction on treatment outcomes will be discussed in this book. Comorbid benzodiazepines misuse, heroin overdose and how to prevent them will be addressed in two chapters as well. The book will then proceed by describing the prevalence of the most common psychiatric comorbidities associated with heroin addiction. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and pain are common comorbidities with heroin use and will be emphasized in two separate chapters. In these two chapters, the reader will be updated about the most recent evidence based psychotherapeutic interventions that integrate the treatment of opioid use with PTSD and pain disorders. Sedentary life style can affect treatment negatively in this population. Utilization of physical exercise in the treatment of heroin addiction will be explained in detail. Methadone maintenance is a common pharmacological intervention for opioid addiction. A whole chapter will cover this topic thoroughly. Finally, the book will cover the pharmacological interventions for heroin addiction in the legal system.