Methamphetamine is the most potent derivative of amphetamine, a powerful stimulant class of drugs. While amphetamines have a long history of use, the epidemic of methamphetamine abuse in the past decade is without parallel in the U.S. and has become a grave medical, public health, social service and criminal justice concern. Although no single pharmacological agent is effective in treating the primary condition, several behavioral and cognitive-behavioral strategies are effective in increasing abstinence and decreasing the craving and protracted withdrawal symptoms of methamphetamine addiction. This course presents valuable information for mental health professionals and allied healthcare workers about the epidemiology, assessment and diagnosis, and treatment of methamphetamine addiction, its short-and long-term addiction effects, and its unique characteristics in comparison to other substance abuse treatment protocols (i.e., cocaine).

• Describe the current epidemic of methamphetamine abuse.
• Identify the potentially serious and long-term alterations in brain structure and function and the associated disturbances in affect, cognition, motivation and drive, and reality testing resulting from chronic methamphetamine use.
• Indicate efficacious psychosocial and pharmacological treatments targeting methamphetamine addiction.