Unique role of the psychiatrist in addiction management

Sarah Anwar, MDLinx

American Psychiatric Association 2018 Annual Meeting

New York, New York, United States | May 05-09, 2018

New York, NY, May 7, 2018—If substance abuse disorders in patients with other mental illnesses are not addressed, patient outcomes will be much worse. Psychiatrists can play a larger role than they historically have been used to in such treatment, according to Nora D. Volkow, MD, director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, here at the American Psychiatric Association 2018 Annual Meeting.

“Psychiatrists in general are in a very unique position to actually screen and treat individuals with an opioid use disorder, or for that matter, for any of the other substance abuse disorders,” she said.

“Psychiatrists should treat their patients comprehensively, which means treating the substance use disorder and the comorbid mental illness,” she concluded.

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This activity is not sanctioned by, nor a part of, the American Psychiatry Association 2018 Annual Meeting.