Diagnosis and Treatment of Substance use Disorders in Service Members: Implications for Health Service Psychologists

Substance use, abuse, and misuse have significant health, military readiness, social and personal consequences that continue to be a major concern for the Department of Defense (DoD). In 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and DoD released a revised clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the management of Substance Use Disorders (SUD). This article summarizes evidence-based guidelines for screening, diagnosis and treatment of common SUD in patients seen in DoD’s general medical, mental health and SUD specialty-care settings.