John R. Hubbard and Peter R. Martin, editors: Substance Abuse in the Mentally and Physically Disabled (2001)

Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York (318 pages)

Reviewed by Peter R. Martin 

CONTENTS: Substance Abuse in the Mentally and Physically Disabled is divided into three parts, complemented by an “In Memoriam” (for Pietro Castelnuovo-Tedesco, one of the authors, deceased during printing, to whom this book is dedicated) and a “Preface” by the authors: Part 1 provides an overview, including assessment instruments, laboratory data, and major epidemiological studies are discussed, in addition to general information on comorbidity. Part 2, entitled “Substance Abuse and Mental Health” deals with various co-occurring mental disorders associated with alcohol and drug use disorders,  including chapters on anxiety disorders (Robert R. Swift and Timothy Mueller), depression (Lauren P. Lehmann, John R. Hubbard, and Peter R. Martin), bipolar disorder (Carlos A. Zarate, Jr. and Mauricio R. Tohen), schizophrenia (Myung A. Lee and Herbert Y. Meltzer), personality disorders (Lisa A. Ottomanelli and Bryon Adinoff), comorbidity in adolescents (Duncan B. Clark and Jeanette Scheid), and psychoanalytically informed treatment (Pietro Castelnuovo-Tedesco);  and Part  3,  “Substance Abuse and Physical Disabilities”, with chapters related to co-occurring cardiovascular disease (Robert P. Albanese, Jr., W. Blake Haren, and John R. Hubbard), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Stephen Wyatt and Richard S. Schottenfeld), chronic pain (John R. Hubbard and Edward A. Workman), comorbidity in the elderly (Richard R. Irons and Donald E. Rosen), and neurological disorders (David D. Weinstein and Peter R. Martin).  Each chapter in the volume is complemented by an extensive reference list of contemporary literature.

EDITOR’S COMMENT: This book explains in a descriptive and mechanistic manner the important interrelationship between substance use and other psychiatric disorders or general medical illness.  These frequent overlapping presentations have become increasingly clear from both clinical and scientific sources and is evidenced by the establishment of subspecialties in addiction psychiatry and addiction medicine.  This book was, therefore, conceived to provide current clinical, scientific, and epidemiological information on the etiology, detection, pathology, and treatment of patients suffering from substance use disorders who have a co-occurring psychiatric or general medical disorder.  The potential utility of Substance Abuse in the Mentally and Physically Disabled for specialists in medicine and psychiatry is underlined by both the high prevalence of substance use disorders in clinical practice and the fact that the clinical presentation of these disorders is rarely pristine—most frequently substance use present in concert with other psychiatric and/or medical conditions that complicate pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management.  These co-morbidities are nowhere more pertinent as in utilizing emerging neuropsychopharmacological approaches to addiction treatment in the comprehensive management of these often highly complex patients.

Peter R. Martin

January 15, 2015