Introduction to Substance Use Disorders for the Eating Disorder Specialist

Substance use disorders and eating disorders co-occur frequently; however, currently, there are no evidence-based treatments to guide the practitioner faced with this comorbid condition. Very few eating disorder programs have incorporated substance abuse protocols into their programs, and likewise, few substance abuse programs can effectively treat the patient with a serious eating disorder. Consequently, clinicians presented with these patients tend to focus on their area of specialty without addressing directly the other comorbid condition. Inadvertently, this can prolong the patient’s suffering as they vacillate between their substance use disorder and their eating disorder. The intention of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of substance use disorders for students, clinicians, and researchers in the health and mental health field. It was specifically designed for the eating disorder specialist that has limited knowledge of the psychoactive properties of drugs of abuse, the clinical characteristics of individuals with alcohol and drug abuse problems, the philosophy and/or vernacular of abstinence-based models (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous [AA], Narcotics Anonymous [NA], or Cocaine Anonymous [CA]), and other evidence-based models/approaches for the treatment of substance use disorders.