Science and the Future of Addiction Treatment

Time and date: 4 PM 15/10/2020

Venue: online – Zoom

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In the past, science has contributed to a radical change in our thinking about addiction and has provided us with convincing arguments against the view that addiction is a moral weakness and instead provided us with data showing that addiction should be viewed as a treatable brain disease with a biopsychosocial aetiology. In addition, science has given us evidence-based, proven-effective new pharmacological and psychological interventions that in most countries constitute the core activity of modern addiction treatment services. There is also scientific data with strong suggesting that pharmacological interventions in youngsters with ADHD can reduce the risk of addiction in adulthood. However, although effective, most of these treatments show limited effect sizes and many patients do not benefit from these modern treatments. Therefore, new treatments are needed and -even more important – more knowledge is needed regarding the question which treatment is most effective in which patient (personalized medicine). Finally, it recognized that social adversities are not only involved in the biopsychosocial aetiology of addiction but may also have a negative effect and their course and treatment outcome. Therefore, recovery from an addiction involves more than just clinical remission but also social en personal recovery, a relatively new scientific field. Regarding selective prevention, we do have new tools, but implementation is cumbersome.

In this lecture, I will present an overview of these developments and some thoughts about the role of science for a better future of people with an (increased risk of) addiction.