Alcohol use disorders are common, and drug use disorders are less common than alcohol use disorders but still affect a substantial minority of adults in developed countries. For example, in the more recent surveys using DSM-IV criteria the prevalence of current alcohol abuse and dependence ranged from 1.9% to 4.3% and 1.2% to 4.4%, respectively; life-time prevalence ranged from 4.5% to 13.2% and 3.8% to 13.3%. Despite the relatively high rates of substance use disorders, treatment seeking among people with alcohol and other drug use disorders is consistently low and most likely to be sought from general practitioners. In the recent Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, only
one in five people with an alcohol use disorder in the last 12 months sought any help for that disorder. > > > >
Read Full Article (PDF)
