"The National Substance Use and Mental Health Services survey found that among outpatient mental health facilities that offered substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, including for AUD, only 40 percent of those facilities offered AUD medications to their patients. (Proven AUD medications include naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram.) Keep in mind that the 40 percent mentioned in the survey represents the number of facilities that offered the medications."
"Stigma still exists among patients: Among the people I see with addiction, including AUD, many still believe that total abstinence from all drugs is the way to go. The thinking is, medications are drugs, and drugs are not allowed, so AUD medications are not allowed. This thinking is most prevalent in older people in recovery who essentially "grew up" with the mentality that total abstinence is the only option for SUD."
Medications approved for alcohol use disorder—naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram—are offered by only 40 percent of outpatient mental health facilities that provide substance use disorder treatment. Actual patient use is far lower: a 2021 NIH report found under 2 percent of the roughly 14 million people with AUD take an FDA-approved medication. Multiple barriers reduce uptake, including patient stigma, family and sponsor opposition, provider-level obstacles, and structural limitations. Some patients and peers believe total abstinence is the only acceptable approach and view medications as illicit or "cheating," particularly among older individuals in recovery.
Read at Psychology Today
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