High expressed emotion: precipitating relapse in substance misuse disorders

There is a considerable body of evidence on the effect of high expressed emotion on individuals suffering severe mental illnesses; there is also considerable work on those people suffering the dual diagnosis of severe mental illness and substance use disorders. However, in the latter, the majority of studies appear to concentrate on the mental illness aspect of the condition. Literature searches identified that there were few scholarly articles on how expressed emotion affects relapse in those people with a substance use disorder, and yet there is a great deal of evidence regarding the disruption substance use can have on a family and on the individual. This article intends to provide an evaluation on the reasons why high expressed emotion should be addressed in substance use disorder and suggests that, if the benefits of reducing high expressed emotion in these disorders are as significant as in severe mental illness, then there is a sound basis for the increased use of family interventions in substance use disorders.