A history of mental health treatment was less robustly related to treatment seeking for new SUDs. Pervasive problems exist in integrating substance abuse treatment with other mental health services (Drake et al., 1998, 1996; McGovern and McLellan, 2008; McGovern et al., 2007; Watkins et al., 2005). Screening for SUD remains uneven (Pilowsky and Wu, 2012); some mental health professionals receive only limited training in SUD treatment and/or lack confidence in their ability to treat SUD. Negative perceptions of individuals with SUD may further impede referrals from general mental health to SUD treatment. Although screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment (SBIRT) models (Babor et al., 2007; Bernstein et al., 2009) have shown some promise, our data suggests that the integration of treatment for SUD and other psychiatric disorders continues to be an area with great opportunities for improving access to care.
