The Relation Between Psychiatric Disorders and Substance Abuse in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Abstract

Data of Substance abuse gathered from all over the world, has indicated that Substance use and dependence cause a significant burden on societies and individuals across the globe. The World Health Report 2002 indicated that 8.9% of the total burden of disease comes from the use of psychoactive substances (WHO, 2004). In 2005, the WHO reported that there are about 200 million addicts around the world. Aim of this work: 1. Investigate the rate of occurrence and the types of psychiatric disorders and psychosocial variables that coexist with drug dependence. 2. Assess the role of stress on substance abuse in adolescents and young adults. Subjects and methods: In our study, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 70 patients who are diagnosed with substance use disorder according to DSM IV between the ages of 15 and 21, who presented to the Substance treatment program at the Institute of Psychiatry of Ain Shams University hospitals over a period of 12 months. Exclusion criteria were limited mental competency, intoxication, presence of a serious medical condition or the inability or refusal to provide an informed written consent. We also interviewed 35 people (the control group), who were free from substance use disorder, yet were relatives of the patients (cases) who participated in the study. They also had to provide a written consent and they had to abide by the same exclusion criteria as the cases. All subjects involved in the study were assessed using: 1. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescent (MINI-KID) for patients below 18 years of age (Sheehan et al., 1990). 2. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorder (SCID-I) for patients above 18 years of age. (First et al., 1995). 3. Fahmy and Sherbini’s Social Classification Scale, which is used to determine the social class of the patient. 4. Social Readjustment Rating Scale for Young (SRRS-Y) (Holmes et al., 1967).