As I mentioned in my previous post on diagnostic categories, the next edition of the Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM5) of Mental Disorders will significantly change diagnoses related to alcohol and drugs. No longer will the diagnosis of abuse exist, but instead we will have one category or diagnosis of problematic substance use behavior with varying degrees of severity. At… [Continue Reading]
Abuse Diagnosis in DSM Soon to be Gone
This past week I attended the 71st Annual Scientific Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in Reno, Nevada. As usual, many of the world’s leading addiction scientists attended the conference to bat around the latest ideas in the field. One of the most memorable sessions for me was focused on the work… [Continue Reading]
Making Addiction Education Stick
Once a year I am fortunate to have the opportunity to teach a graduate level class at the university on the foundations of addiction treatment. And every year I struggle with how best to organize the class time, materials, and lectures in a way that optimizes students retention and likelihood that they will “act” on what… [Continue Reading]
Addiction: Not the Package You Want for Christmas
Addiction comes in packages – not the type of packages you want on your birthday or for Christmas, but packages that develop over periods of time and involve excessive behavior with more than one object of addiction. Rarely in my clinical work and research have I experienced patients that struggle with only one addiction, typically… [Continue Reading]
Life is Transitory
This past Friday I took a rare day off from work and visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Lafayette, Oregon. This beautiful monastery was built in 1955 and is nestled among green fields in the heart of the wine country. Having never been to a Trappist monastery before, and having had a number… [Continue Reading]