Reasons for Not Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment

The NSDUH Report:  Reasons for Not Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment

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Highlights:

• SAMHSA's 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that about 7.7 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug problem and about 18.6 million needed treatment for an alcohol problem.

• About 18 percent of those needing treatment for an illicit drug problem and about 8 percent of those needing treatment for an alcohol problem received specialty substance abuse treatment in the past year.

• Persons were classified as needing treatment if they were dependent on or abused a substance or received specialty substance abuse treatment in the past year.  SAMHSA's NSDUH defines dependence or abuse using criteria in the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).  This includes such symptoms as withdrawal, tolerance, use in dangerous situations, trouble with the law, and interference in major obligations at work, school, or home during the past year.

• The primary reasons for not getting treatment among those who perceived an unmet treatment need were:  not being ready to stop using illicit drugs, thinking the cost of treatment would be too high, stigma associated with receiving treatment, and not knowing where to get treatment.

Reports on dependence

Reports on treatment

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This OAS Short Report, The NSDUH Report:  Reasons for Not Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment, is based on SAMHSA's  National Survey on Drug Use and Health  (NSDUH), formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA's Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, aged 12 and older.   The NSDUH also provides estimates for drug use by state.

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This paged was last updated on March 16, 2006.

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