Patients With Substance Abuse Problems: Effective Identification, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Abstract

Reviews the book, Patients with substance abuse problems: Effective identification, diagnosis, and treatment by Edgar P. Nace and Joyce A. Tinsley (see record 2007-04253-000). This book provides a comprehensive discussion of substance dependence neurobiology, identification, and therapeutic management, primarily for clinicians in primary care and general psychiatry. The book is divided into three parts. Part I provides a medical overview, beginning with sobering statistics regarding the incidence and prevalence of substance abuse disorders in primary care and general psychiatry. Part II discusses diagnostic and treatment issues using clinical cases to present frequently associated symptoms, and comorbid physical and psychiatric conditions. The final section, Part III Special Topics, addresses substance abuse in adolescents, older adults, nicotine addiction, and pharmacological treatment. Risk factors, warning signs, commonly abused drugs, treatment options, and parental responsibility for substance abuse in adolescents are discussed. Strengths of this work include the use of a neurobiological approach, a stepwise approach to the management of patients, and the authors' humanistic belief that clinicians should empathize with the substance abuse patient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)