 Combatting Stigma with KnowledgeBy: Madeline Beasley Peacock, Ph.D., Public Health Advisor and Robert Baillieu, M.D., M.P.H., Physician and Senior Advisor, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) are chronic disorders of the brain with a risk of recurrence but from which people can, and do, recover. Like other medical conditions, some people are more susceptible to developing a SUD than others. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, only about 25 percent of people who had used alcohol and illicit drugs within the past year met the criteria for a SUD diagnosis.1 For this subgroup of people, the brain disease model underscores the brain changes that happen with SUDs and that drive a person to continue using substances despite all the negative consequences and harms that follow. Read More |