In Part 1 of this blog, I discussed the root and meaning of substance use disorder (SUD), as well as general criteria for its diagnosis. Part of the motivation to designate problems with drug use as a mental health disorder was to provide an avenue for insurance coverage for treatment. If seen as a medical disorder, insurers would be more inclined, and perhaps even mandated, to include treatment of SUD within their insurance plans. Indeed, the Affordable Care Act mandates that insurers cover the costs of SUD treatment, as well as other behavioral health interventions. Many believe this outcome is a positive consequence of the current classifications for problematic drug use. But there are also negative consequences to the medicalization of behavioral problems, including substance use.
Having a diagnostic label attached to you readily influences how you think about yourself. One of the problems with the label of SUD is that it makes people see themselves as sick rather than as sinners. Indeed, organizations like the National Institute of Drug Abuse argue that SUD is like diabetes or asthma—it is seen as an illness that has afflicted a person through no fault of their own. It is argued that the
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