Is Denial Just Another Term for Delusion? | Is it a Moral Defect?

This video answers the question: What is denial? When we hear the term “denial” we often hear it in the context of substance use disorders (e.g. if somebody is drinking alcohol excessively, but they deny they have any type of problem. Denial is really one of the most powerful and potentially destructive constructs in mental health and it could be argued that it's on a continuum with delusional behavior, but it's more situational.

There are many theories around denial: moral defect model, interactional model, mental impairment model, psychodynamic theory of denial, and phenomenological.

Descriptive statistics behind substance use disorder:
- 5% of the population of the world has used illegal drugs and last year
- 2.5% of the worldwide population has used illegal drugs in the last month
- 76 million people could be classified as having alcohol use disorder
- Alcohol causes about 2 million deaths a year worldwide
- In the United States, almost 10% of the population has used an illegal drug in the last month
- Over 15 million Americans struggle with alcohol use disorder
- 2.5 million people each year receive treatment, even though 24 million people actually need treatment

Pickard, H. (2016). Denial in addiction. Mind & Language, 31(3), 277–299

DARE, P. A. S., & DERIGNE, L. (2010). Denial in alcohol and other drug use disorders: A critique of theory. Addiction Research & Theory, 18(2), 181–193.

Rosenfeld, J. (1994). Denial: Reports of its death are premature. Behavioral Health Management, 14(5), 44

https://www.northpointwashington.com/blog/percentage-population-struggles-addiction-answer-may-surprise/

Видео Is Denial Just Another Term for Delusion? | Is it a Moral Defect? канала Dr. Todd Grande