Am J Psychiatry 1991; 148:1291-1300
Copyright © 1991 by American Psychiatric Association
Substance abuse disorders: a psychiatric priority. Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Committee on Alcoholism and the Addictions
The renewed public, governmental, and professional interest in addictive
disorders should serve to encourage the interest of psychiatrists in this
important and rapidly changing field. It is the view of the Group for the
Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) Committee on Alcoholism and the Addictions
that all psychiatrists should possess expertise in the recognition,
assessment, and treatment of substance use disorders. This position paper
by the GAP committee reviews the role of the psychiatrist in the evaluation
and treatment of patients with substance use disorders. It also notes some
of the obstacles to full involvement in this field by medical practitioners
in general and psychiatrists in particular. The psychiatrist has a critical
role to play in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with substance use
disorders. As biopsychosocial phenomena, substance abuse problems
constitute a special and direct challenge to the psychiatrist, whose
training, perspective, and competence should span all three domains.
Psychiatrists must be willing to accept this challenge and fully
participate in the development and application of treatment strategies
adequate to cope with the enormous human suffering resulting from the abuse
of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs.
