ABSTRACT
From either the mental illnesses (MI) or the addiction treatment side, the 2 × 4 Model should keep and integrate the best elements and discard the worst. A lack of familiarity on the mental health care side with addiction neuroscience, diagnosis, and treatment, has created situations where addictions are viewed as being something different from mental illness, like, being viewed as not quite legitimate brain conditions or illnesses that are on par with mental illness. The fact is, drug testing, and engaging in frank, open, and comfortable conversations about past or ongoing drug use are key and indispensable to addiction and dual diagnosis treatment. Not looking for and assessing addictions using these approaches rules out any legitimate claim that a behavioral health clinic may have that it can competently address substance use disorders as brain-illness comorbidities that are endemic and often lethal in mentally ill people everywhere.
