Different Levels of Treatment: Who Gets What

January 3, 2013 by C. Scott McMillin

For the most part, if you are hoping that insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, or another third-party payor will help with–or pick up entirely–the costs of treatment, you’ll be running into ASAM criteria that control who gets what kind of treatment.

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Addiction, Abuse, Dependency–What’s the Difference?

December 20, 2012 by C. Scott McMillin

As a judge once put it: it was clear to him that psychiatrists got together and defined various disorders, and a few years afterwards, they got together and redefined them.

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Some Observations on Mental Illness

December 18, 2012 by C. Scott McMillin

Therapy we might see as fiddling with the ‘software’. Not so different from treating a chronic disease such as diabetes, where education and counseling improve outcomes.

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Some Observations on Mental Health Diagnosis

December 17, 2012 by C. Scott McMillin

Another common criticism is that the diagnostic system dehumanizes clinical care, leading us to think about disorders rather than people.

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A (Very New) Beginner’s Guide to the Disease Concept

December 6, 2012 by C. Scott McMillin

Image of "Beginner's Guide to Disease Concept" document

We’re brought up to view a pattern of problems with alcohol or drugs as the result of a variety of other factors— psychological issues, or lack of willpower, or moral weakness, or some terrible past experience. That makes it difficult for most of us to switch over to the view of addiction as a chronic illness.

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Why Do Alcoholics Drink?

March 6, 2012 by C. Scott McMillin

If you’re happy with your program of recovery, find another therapist who believes in letting the client direct the course of therapy.

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Why Don’t Physicians Refer People for Treatment?

September 30, 2011 by C. Scott McMillin

A patient said he’d visited a local family clinic three times in the past year for drinking-related problems and the physician never once mentioned that he needed treatment.

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