Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Comorbidities: Evidence-Based Approaches to Prevention and Treatment

Dear Colleagues, 

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are more likely than persons without SUDs to be affected by mental health conditions. Furthermore, mental health comorbidities present unique challenges to individuals with SUDs regarding treatment engagement and retention, oftentimes leading to poorer outcomes across a variety of domains, including substance use, physical and mental health, employment, family and social relationships, housing and involvement with the criminal justice system. While great strides have been made in recent years in recognizing the need for early identification and specialized treatment, individuals with SUD and comorbid mental health conditions are still at greater risk of self-harm and other negative consequences. Empirically based prevention and intervention strategies to improve identification and provide treatment services tailored to persons with SUDs and mental health comorbidities are critical to improving short- and long-term outcomes among these patients with regard to addiction and mental health, medical status, employment, relationships and general well-being. 

In this Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, we invite multidisciplinary researchers to submit their work based on qualitative and/or quantitative investigations, scoping or systematic reviews, etc. The primary goal of this issue will be to provide an overview of recent research examining the intersection of substance use and mental health, and strategies to intervene with these patients across various healthcare settings that may contribute to improved public health outcomes.

Dr. Lori Keyser-Marcus
Prof. Dr. Dace S. Svikis
Guest Editors

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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2500 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
• substance use disorder
• depression
• anxiety
• mental health
• treatment
• behavior
• assessment