Treatment of alcohol use disorder from a psychological point of view.

The development of a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a crucial and complex moment. Indeed, the information gathered by a team of professionals (physicians, psychologists and social workers) (bio-psycho-social model of AUD) interact to choose the most appropriate cure. As for AUD psychological treatment, it is of considerable importance to avoid clinical treatments leading to drop-out for improving the patients quality of life. Psychoanalytic and behavioral techniques were early utilized as psychological treatment of AUD, however, evidence-based approaches as motivational interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are recently used in AUD. In this work we review the more effective and appropriate AUD psychological treatments.

Dual diagnosis: an intriguing and actual nosographic issue too long neglected

Background: The term "dual diagnosis" (DD) has been used in clinical practice for years. However, there is confusion about these medical cases, which consist in the presence of both a psychiatric disorder and a substance abuse disorder (in this case, alcohol). There are evidences that in the alcohol use disorder (AUD) population, 50.3% of patients had a psychiatric comorbidity during their lifetime. Nevertheless, to these days there are not any thorough guidelines for the management of these patients. A precise nosography would prevent delay in diagnosis and treatment and all the self-evident negative outcomes of those delays. Materials and methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, including studies published between 1980 and 2015. Search terms were: "guidelines", "treatment", "comorbidity", "substance abuse", "alcohol", "dual-diagnosis", "etiopathogenesis", "outpatient", "inpatient", "unit", "diagnosis". Out of 1045 titles, 43 studies were included in this article for their relevance on definition and nosography of DD. Results: Taking into account the state of art available in the literature, we contributed to clarify the definition of DD in the alcohol addiction field. Clinical data confirm high prevalence of DD, and allow to better describe and understand the complex relationship between alcohol dependence and other psychiatric diseases. Conclusions: We believe that a clear nosographic framework and a precise diagnostic process are essential for a timely management of every case, using specific guidelines to standardize and improve clinical practice. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), which introduces dimensional approach, could be a useful tool to improve diagnostic accuracy.