Supervised Disulfiram's Superior Effectiveness in Alcoholism Treatment: Ethical, Methodological, and Psychological Aspects

Disulfiram (DSF) causes the ALDH-mediated deterrence of alcohol consumption. We review recent meta-analyses showing the superior effectiveness of supervised disulfiram (SD) in alcoholism treatment compared with oral naltrexone or acamprosate (ACP). The success of SD is also consistent with the almost complete absence of alcoholism in Japanese homozygotes for 'inefficient' ALDH. However, SD is an underused treatment and some clinicians have ethical objections to DSF. We examine these objections and argue that they are based on a misunderstanding of how DSF works. In particular, we argue that SD is not as is often claimed a variety of aversion therapy but aids cognitive, behavioural, educational and psychosocial interventions. It has some unique features that need to be better understood if it is to be properly compared with other treatments and effectively employed to help alcoholic patients, especially those who have not responded to other evidence-based interventions.