Misrepresenting the Accomplishments of Treatment

The term "chronic relapsing disorder/disease" is viewed as an unfortunate shorthand expression that does an injustice to the accomplishments of treatment patients and treatment providers, and inadequately describes the findings from treatment evaluation research. Studies are reported that make clear relapse is not an inevitable consequence of substance abuse treatment, while substantial reductions in drug use and crime are routinely obtained consequent to treatment. It is past time to retire a term whose only virtue is brevity, and whose vices risk harm to a treatment population that is already stigmatized and a treatment system that is under frequent pressure. Thus, retiring this term provides the important benefit of recognizing the real achievements in behavior change obtained by treatment clients in conjunction with their service providers.