Treatment in inpatient, organized outpatient and other practice settings should be supported. AAAP supports increased emphasis on medical education in addictions in medical schools, the teaching of addiction psychiatry in psychiatric residency and addiction psychiatry fellowships. There is a need to provide clinical and research training support. AAAP supports increased funding for research on alcoholism and drug abuse, including new treatment development and treatment outcome research. Psychiatry is the medical specialty with the greatest number of physicians active in addiction treatment.
Psychiatrists are also best able to address biological and psychosocial issues.
Substance-related disorders have genetic influences, have a major impact on the family and the workplace, increase unemployment, have a biological basis like other medical illnesses and require medical and psychiatric care. The most effective current techniques and most cutting-edge treatments require careful diagnosis and targeting of the right treatment to the right patient. Relapsing patients frequently fail because of lack of treatment for an additional psychiatric diagnosis and because of inadequate treatment targeting. The American Psychiatric Association is developing treatment guidelines for substance-related disorders that provide quality minimal standards for treatment that should be accessed and supported by minimal coverage. AAAP is in support of quality affordable care with universal access.