Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce a new Special Issue “Addiction Research for Sustainability in Public Health” of the journal Sustainability.

Addictions are currently one of the leading public health problems worldwide. Defined as a mental disorder that compels someone to repeatedly uses substances or engage in behaviors despite the fact that they have harmful consequences, addiction may have a catastrophic impacts on those suffering from such behaviors, as well as for the family, friends, co-workers, community health workers, and—in some cases—bystanders around them.

Modern times have provided several new reasons as to why addictions are a highly represented global public health problem, especially in the modern world. For instance, modern times and the development of civilization has ushered in new styles and ways of life, forms of entertainment and trends, seeking new forms of endurance in the fast pace of life. It has presented positive attitudes towards at least some drugs, a materialist philosophy of life, and changes to the value system, supporting the rapid pace of creation of material goods that requires constant competition and endurance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly influenced all aspects of human life, and mental health is a prominent area that has been strongly affected by the ongoing crisis. The problem of addiction as one of the leading global public health problems is particularly strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent studies from different countries have shown that social isolation, coupled with the stress and uncertainty of the current pandemic situation, can exacerbate all forms of addictive behaviors, and some population subgroups such as young people and people with preexisting addiction problems are especially vulnerable in this regard. Taking the above into account, it is clear that after overcoming the current pandemic, health systems worldwide will be faced with a large number of people affected by different forms of addictions as a consequence of the pandemic and its psychosocial impacts.

This Special Issue of Sustainability, titled “Addiction Research for Sustainability in Public Health”, aims to provide deeper insight into the problem of addiction in the context of actual public health situations around the world, with special emphasis on possible public health interventions that can be launched to mitigate the negative effect of the current pandemic on this important issue. Additionally, the proposed Special Issue seeks to explore innovative approaches in health care systems around the world directed towards prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of various addictive behaviors in different populations. We believe that above mentioned Special Issue of Sustainability will be an excellent platform for strengthening global public health efforts, as well as an increase of sustainability and resistance of public health systems to successfully combat the problem of addiction in the modern world. We look forward receiving your valuable contributions.

Prof. Dr. Ivan Miskulin
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• addiction
• addictive behavior
• substance abuse
• behavioral addiction
• COVID-19 pandemic
• public health intervention
• public health system
• prevention