INTRODUCTION: Proper psychiatric evaluations are seldom performed on drug addicts. Failure in recognizing dual diagnosed patients frequently results in inadequate treatment interventions. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the incidence of psychiatric disorders in drug addicts. METHODS: Psychiatric morbidity was studied within a sample of 50 drug dependent men randomly selected from an outward treatment facility. Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) were used for diagnostic assessment. RESULTS: Lifetime and current prevalence of some mental disorder were of 77% and 72 %, respectively. Thirty-two percent of the subjects presented a depression diagnosis at the time and 44 % met diagnostic criteria for lifetime diagnosis of depression. Depressive disorders somehow seemed to precede drug dependence in 77,3 % of the cases. Also, frequencies of other psychiatric disorders were higher among addicts than within the community. Results from this study were compared with similar international studies. CONCLUSION: The link between psychopathology and drug dependence justifies the importance of specific strategies for the treatment of dual diagnosed addicts.
Dependence; addiction; comorbidity; dual diagnosis; depression
