Drug Abuse and Withdrawal Syndromes: From Addiction Pathways to Novel Interventions
A special issue of Medicines (ISSN 2305-6320).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 72
Special Issue Editor
Interests: opioids; brain systems; autonomic physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The incidence of substance use disorders (SUDs) is endemic throughout the world and ever increasing in severity. The need to understand the mechanisms of addiction and physical dependence on drugs such as opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines and alcohol is therefore greater than ever. Moreover, the co-ingestion of many of these drugs presents an entirely new set of health problems that are very difficult to treat and obscure efforts to understand the root causality of the addiction/dependence.
The issue of near-fatal and fatal withdrawal syndromes that follow cessation of ingestion of these drugs individually and together also presents a major challenge, with few therapeutic options being currently available. The purpose of this solicitation is to attract research, review and position (opinion) articles addressing (1) the root causes of SUDs (from single and complex drug combinations) from a societal perspective, (2) the mechanisms that cause addiction/physical dependence on SUDs alone or as a mixture, (3) the mechanisms responsible for withdrawal syndromes from each SUD combination, (4) the current state of medication assistance programs (e.g., buprenorphine) with respect to efficacy and availability, and (5) novel therapies that (a) prevent the development of addiction/dependence on SUDs and (b) overcome existing addiction/dependence.
Prof. Dr. Stephen J. Lewis
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicines is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- substance use disorder
- opioids
- cocaine
- methamphetamine
- benzodiazepines
- alcohol
- clinical
- basic science
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
