Similarities Between Substance Abuse And Dependency
I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the merge of substance abuse and dependency. Looking into some research I found part of this decision came from several flaws with the DSM IV system. One of the flaws was what you had discussed; the diagnosis substance abuse was statistically less reliable and less valid than substance dependence diagnosis (Hasin et al, 2013). Another flaw was that dependence required 3 criteria which made it harder for clients who had severe criteria in only 2 areas of dependence to get a diagnosis (Hasin et al, 2013). There also continues to be debate about other diagnostic criteria, such as legal issues or tolerance (Hasin et al, 2013).