ABSTRACT
Despite the high prevalence of substance abuse in Western cultures and the sexual difficulties of many of those who are addicted, few professionals have devoted themselves to understanding the interactions between sexual function and the chronic use of drugs of abuse. When we wanted to draw attention to this neglected topic, we turned to an alcoholism expert, Sheldon I. Miller, MD, professor of psychiatry and chairman at Northwestern University School of Medicine. Dr. Miller agreed to take responsibility for this chapter under the condition that he could use it as an opportunity for an advanced resident to write the chapter. He chose Tiffany Cummins, a 4th year resident at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Cummins is a graduate of Tulane University School of Medicine. It is our hope that this chapter will assist our readers to recognize both what is known and how much there is yet to be learned about the subject. Dr. Cummins has told us how developing this chapter has changed her views on substanceabuse treatment. We hope that this chapter will inspire others to be curious about the sexuality of their addicted patients. We have another hope as well: that Dr. Cummins’s excellent work will inspire other young professionals to be scholarly about neglected subjects.
